Association Of Research Libraries Research Articles

How assessment websites of academic libraries convey information and show value

PurposeAs libraries are required to become more accountable and demonstrate that they are meeting performance metrics, an assessment website can be a means for providing data for evidence-based decision making and an important indicator of how a library interacts with its constituents. The purpose of this paper is to share the results of a review of websites of academic libraries from four countries, including the UK, Canada, Australia and the USA.Design/methodology/approachThe academic library websites included in the sample were selected from the Canadian Association of Research Libraries, Research Libraries of the United Kingdom, Council of Australian University Libraries, Historically Black College & Universities Library Alliance, Association of Research Libraries and American Indian Higher Education Consortium. The websites were evaluated according to the absence or presence of nine predetermined characteristics related to assessment.FindingsIt was discovered that “one size does not fit all” and found several innovative ways institutions are listening to their constituents and making improvements to help users succeed in their academic studies, research and creative endeavors.Research limitations/implicationsOnly a sample of academic libraries from each of the four countries were analyzed. Additionally, some of the academic libraries were using password protected intranets unavailable for public access. The influences of institutional history and country-specific practices also became compelling factors during the analysis.Originality/valueThis paper seeks to broaden the factors for what is thought of as academic library assessment with the addition of qualitative and contextual considerations.

Specialties and strategies in academic libraries: a cluster analysis approach

PurposeProfessional work is becoming more specialized and diffused, with new specialties emerging on the boundaries of established professions. The purpose of this paper is to examine current specialties in academic librarianship in order to infer what strategies they employ.Design/methodology/approachThis research uses a sample of 60 US research libraries to investigate current specialties in academic librarianship, in order to analyze and classify the specialties into groups based on similarities, and categorize academic libraries based on the staffing patterns identified, and illustrate the challenges and strategies of each classification. The sample was selected from the membership of the Association of Research Libraries, and designed to include both large and medium-sized research libraries. 888 different job titles were identified for 2,074 specialist positions extracted from staff directories containing information on 11,688 librarians. The positions were analyzed and classified using the framework provided by Cox and Corrall (2013), and the specialty composition of the libraries was investigated with Ward’s (1963) hierarchical method of cluster analysis, using 28 variables.FindingsThe cluster analysis identified subspecialties within the groups and revealed seven distinct staffing strategies of the libraries.Originality/valueDescribing specialties and strategies in academic libraries by cluster analysis based on huge data is a significantly novel and effective approach for capturing the concept of specialization.

Libcitations, worldcat, cultural impact, and fame

Just as citations to a book can be counted, so can that book's libcitations—the number of libraries in a consortium that hold it. These holdings counts per title can be obtained from the consortium's union catalog, such as OCLC's WorldCat. Librarians seeking to serve their customers well must be attuned to various kinds of merit in books. The result in WorldCat is a great variation in the libcitations particular books receive. The higher a title's count (or percentile), the more famous it is—either absolutely or within a subject class. Degree of fame also indicates cultural impact, allowing that further documentation of impact may be needed. Using WorldCat data, we illustrate high, medium, and low degrees of fame with 170 titles published during 1990–1995 or 2001–2006 and spanning the 10 main Dewey classes. We use their total libcitation counts or their counts from members of the Association of Research Libraries, or both, as of late 2011. Our analysis of their fame draws on the recognizability of their authors, the extent to which they and their authors are covered by Wikipedia, and whether they have movie or TV versions. Ordinal scales based on Wikipedia coverage and on libcitation counts are very significantly associated.

Sharing Success: A Review of Strategic Planning, Annual Reports, and Publicly Available Information from Academic Libraries

Objective – This paper reports on a study which explored web-based information sharing practices in North American academic libraries. This study specifically focused on how selected academic libraries use data, reports, and other strategic planning documents to communicate success and demonstrate impact to stakeholders, administrators, and peers.
 
 Methods – An environmental scan was conducted to explore the assessment programs and communication practices of 97 North American academic libraries. The population for this study was identified on the basis of several metrics: consortial membership, Association of Research Libraries (ARL) ranking on various criteria, and institutional attendance at the 2014 and 2016 Library Assessment Conferences (LAC). Researchers conducted content analyses on the websites of the 97 libraries to identify measures of institutional support for assessment and to explore the range, depth, and quality of data made available. These iterative analyses were supported by the use of a rubric developed based on emergent criteria observed during multiple phases of review.
 
 Results – Of the libraries reviewed, 57% made some form of data available to the public. The most robust and effective use of data observed in this study involved the use of data to tell stories about the library and its impact. While this study found a positive correlation between libraries with clear investments in assessment and their use of data in public documents, it found that other factors such as an institution’s consortial memberships or funding model may more strongly influence a library’s decision to make data available.
 
 Conclusions – While observations gleaned from this study may serve as a benchmark for evaluating communication practices in academic libraries, further research is necessary to understand how factors within an academic library, its parent institution, or the profession at large may contribute to this decision making process.

Salary Negotiation Patterns between Women and Men in Academic Libraries

Due to persistent wage gaps between men and women nationally, and in the field of academic librarianship, researchers wished to study possible issues that contribute to the phenomenon. This study examines the tendency for men and women to negotiate salaries in academic libraries upon hire. Researchers surveyed professional librarians employed in ARL (Association of Research Libraries) member institutions and found that women were statistically less likely than their male counterparts to engage in salary negotiations; and, when they did negotiate, they were less successful than men. This finding changed when a woman attained a high management status: female heads, deans, and directors were more likely to negotiate than female librarians in nonadministrative positions were. Researchers also found that the longer an individual (either male or female) worked in the field of academic librarianship, the more likely that individual would be to negotiate for higher salary upon hire.

University Community Engagement and the Strategic Planning Process

Objectives- To understand how university libraries are engaging with the university community (students, faculty, campus partners, administration) when working through the strategic planning process. 
 
 Methods- Literature review and exploratory open-ended survey to members of CAUL (Council of Australian University Librarians), CARL (Canadian Association of Research Libraries), CONZUL (Council of New Zealand University Librarians), and RLUK (Research Libraries UK) who are most directly involved in the strategic planning process at their library.
 
 Results- Out of a potential 113 participants from 4 countries, 31 people replied to the survey in total (27%). Libraries most often mentioned the use of regularly-scheduled surveys to inform their strategic planning which helps to truncate the process for some respondents, as opposed to conducting user feedback specifically for the strategic plan process. Other quantitative methods include customer intelligence and library-produced data. Qualitative methods include the use of focus groups, interviews, and user experience/design techniques to help inform the strategic plan. The focus of questions to users tended to fall towards user-focused (with or without library lens), library-focused, trends & vision, and feedback on plan.
 
 Conclusions- Combining both quantitative and qualitative methods can help give a fuller picture for librarians working on a strategic plan. Having the university community join the conversation in how the library moves forward is an important but difficult endeavour. Regardless, the university library needs to be adaptive to the rapidly changing environment around it. Having a sense of how other libraries engage with the university community benefits others who are tasked with strategic planning

Is There a Racial Wage Gap in Research Libraries? An Analysis of ARL Libraries

Racial equality has been of great importance to the Association of Research Libraries (ARL), as seen through various initiatives. However, in recent years, little research has been done regarding the racial wage gap in ARL libraries. Researchers used thirty-five years of raw ARL salary survey data to examine the wage gap between racial minorities and nonminorities (whites). Using this data, researchers created a model that controlled for institution, years of experience, years of experience squared, position, law or medical library, and sex to better understand the nature of the racial wage gap. This model shows that the gap has gradually closed over the years and that there is no longer a statistically significant wage gap between racial minorities and nonminorities in ARL libraries today.

Restructuring and formalizing: Scholarly communication as a sustainable growth opportunity in information agencies?

ABSTRACTEmerging technologies are revolutionizing the field of scholarly communication. Because of this, scholars increasingly need specialized support during all stages of the research process. With the academic library as the unit of analysis, two concepts from Rogers' Diffusion of Innovation theory and organizational innovation literature are drawn upon to assess the sustainability of scholarly communication work in libraries. These concepts are organizational restructuring and formalization. Data on Association of Research Libraries (ARL) employees with relevant job titles and three digital curation competencies documents are analysed. Study findings suggest that ARL information agencies have restructured to provide added research support and that skills associated with scholarly communication positions are becoming more uniform. We conclude that scholarly communication information professionals are part of a sustainable area of practice within ARL information agencies, that has matured over the past decade, and this trend is likely to continue in at least the short term.

Introduction

Introduction Lewis G. Liu (bio) The scholarly publishing market plays a critical role in modern societies since it communicates research findings to researchers, businesses, and industries. Scientific research findings are expected to lead to innovations, inventions, and new products and services that are driving forces of countries' economic growth and development. Research findings in social sciences and business are expected to provide policy guidance for improving individuals' lives and organizational effectiveness and efficiency of businesses, nonprofit institutions, and government agencies. Academic libraries have always been part of the scholarly publishing market since they represent the demand side of the market equilibrium and play an important role in acquiring, maintaining, and delivering scholarly publications. The changes in the scholarly publishing market such as price increases for packaged journal subscriptions and ebooks can have an impact on academic libraries' budgets, and therefore affect their collections and acquisitions policies and decisions. While inflation is a factor in price increases, the oligopoly behavior of a few large commercial publishers can be a cause of price increases in journal and book prices. In fact, commercial publishers have been reshaping the scholarly publishing industry in recent decades and continue to expand their presence as a dominant force in today's scholarly publishing market, whereas the presence of noncommercial publishers, particularly the presence of university presses, has been diminishing, and some of them have been consolidated into library operations (Clement 2011) to achieve economies of scope. Commercial publishers control a larger share of scholarly information products, including print books, ebooks, open access journals, and research databases. The lack of competition in the scholarly publishing market can only lead to increased prices for these information products. It is not uncommon to see a few large corporations dominating an industry in the current global [End Page 183] economic system. They hire workers to make products, and then sell them to consumers who usually are not part of the production process. What is unique in the scholarly publishing market is that scholarly content creators are also consumers of their own products and their institutions have to buy back the very creations of their own research, in many cases at a higher price than they are willing and able to pay. In this Library Trends volume, we have gathered academic researchers, practicing librarians, and library administrators who have research expertise and working experiences in their respective subject areas to examine the role and impact of commercial and noncommercial publishers in scholarly publishing on academic libraries. Given the time constraint to complete this research project and maximum total pages allowed, we are not able to address as many topics as we would like. We, however, have covered some important issues related to the theme of this Library Trends volume. Scholarly publishing mainly consists of journal and book publishing. Although consumers, providers, and content creators of scholarly journals and books are more or less the same groups of individuals and organizations, journals and books are different types of information products. Journals are demanded in a more timely manner than are books. Researchers need the most recent research results from their fellow researchers to update their own research. Journals in general are more expensive than books partly because the timely demand for journals drives up their prices. Therefore, journals and books belong to separate information markets and will be discussed as such. The Scholarly Journal Publishing Market and Academic Libraries 1989 Studies and the Collapse of the Scholarly Journal Market The scholarly journal publishing market had been more or less in equilibrium until the late 1980s when many academic libraries' budgets could no longer keep up with escalating journal prices charged by commercial publishers and started canceling journal subscriptions. Nationwide complaints about escalating journal prices prompted the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) to investigate the issue. The ARL commissioned Economic Consulting Services, Inc. (1989) to conduct an economic cost analysis of journals published by a few major commercial publishers in the fields of science, technology, and medicine. The conclusion was that journal prices charged by these commercial publishers were much higher than their costs and inflation, revealing excessive profit made by commercial publishers. In the very same...

The Right to Be Forgotten and Implications on Digital Collections: A Survey of ARL Member Institutions on Practice and Policy

In the spring of 2017, digital librarians and digital collection managers at member institutions of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) were surveyed on practices and policies surrounding takedown requests in openly accessible digital collections. The survey collected basic demographic information surrounding the digital repositories (anonymized) and presented a series of hypothetical scenarios for respondents to consider and reflect upon. The survey received a 25.8 percent response rate, with many intriguing insights. Survey findings are presented, along with a discussion on future recommendations for work in this area.

The Opportunity for Research Libraries in 2018 and Beyond

While the mission of research libraries remains constant, the nature of research libraries and what they do is changing. Research libraries are taking on new roles in digital scholarship, data management, and scholarly communications. More than ever, libraries know they must align their mission with the objectives of key stakeholders. This article highlights the valuable nature of associations in providing safe, collegial spaces for dialogue and experimentation, for agreement on shared agendas, and for initiatives to be piloted. It presents how the Association of Research Libraries delivers and seeks to provide even greater value to its members, research libraries, and the broader research ecosystem.

The Electronic Resources Librarian: From Public Service Generalist to Technical Services Specialist

ABSTRACTHas the electronic resources librarian position been redefined in its scope of responsibility since its origin in the 1990s? How is the position developing in actual practice? By reviewing relevant historical studies of position announcements, online staff directories, organization charts, and cross-referencing this information with Association of Research Libraries and Association of College & Research Libraries statistics for 166 academic libraries in North America, several discernible trends are revealed.

The Leiden Manifesto under review: what libraries can learn from it

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to provide a critical discussion of the Leiden Manifesto for libraries already engaged in bibliometric practices. It offers practical recommendations based on the work of the European Association for Research Libraries (LIBER) Working Group on Metrics. This work is in the beginning phase and summarizes literature on the topic, as well as the experiences of the members of the Working Group. The discussion reflects today's growing popularity of (quantitative) research assessment which is seen in enthusiasts introducing new metrics (i.e. altmetrics) and by critics demanding responsible metrics that increase objectivity and equity in evaluations.Design/methodology/approachThis paper is the result of the Working Group on Metrics of the European Association for Research Libraries (LIBER) that critically discussed the practicality of the Leiden Manifesto for libraries.FindingsFull compliance with the Manifesto is time-consuming, expensive and requires a significant increase in bibliometric expertise with respect to both staffing and skill level. Despite these apparent disadvantages, it is recommended that all libraries embrace the Manifesto’s principles. To increase practicality, it is advised that libraries collaborate with researchers, management and other libraries at home and around the world to jointly design and provide services that can be reused within the library community.Originality/valueLibraries have increasingly been confronted with questions about research assessment, responsible metrics and the role of digital products in evaluations and funding decisions. Although a wide range of recommendations and initiatives are available (e.g. DORA San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment), many recommendations are not straightforward enough to be implemented from a library perspective. This paper provides assistance for libraries to implement these principles by acknowledging the heterogeneous backgrounds the libraries may stem from.

Rewired: Research-Writing Partnerships within the Frameworks. Randall McClure, ed., for the Association of Research Libraries. Chicago: American Library Association, 2016. 303p. Softcover, $68.00 (ISBN 978-0-8389-8904-3).

Attending the “ Creating Knowledge VIII ” 2016 conference (Reykjavik, Iceland) I was delighted to find conference sessions addressing the integration of writing and research for students. One session was titled “We have to talk about collaboration”: a presentation on a partnership between the University Library and the Writing Centre at Umea University, Sweden. Rewired: Research-Writing Partnerships within the Frameworks , edited by Randall McClure, extends this conversation to development of, partnerships with, and assessment of information literacy and writing as collaborative and integral foundations of academic research.

A Tale of Two Outliers: Evidence-Based Management in Non-ARL Research Libraries and Pre-NARA Presidential Libraries

ABSTRACTAdministrators in libraries of all types face the challenge of managing and planning in times of static or declining funding and rapidly changing technology. What tools do they use to gather and employ data for decision-making and evidence-based management? Are the same tools and techniques useful for all types of libraries? Although there are established measurements and metrics for academic libraries, there are few, if any, for others such as hybrid presidential libraries which are not part of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) system. This column identifies the metrics used by the pre-NARA presidential libraries and compares them to metrics used by a subgroup of Carnegie Research 1 and Research 2 libraries, those that do not participate in Association of Research Libraries (ARL) statistics program. It identifies similarities and differences.

The Effect of Gender and Minority Status on Salary in Private and Public ARL Libraries

The purpose of this study was to identify pay disparities within gender and race using private and public Association of Research Libraries (ARL) libraries as a lens. In this study, 44 ARL libraries participated, leading to 1099 usable responses to our survey. The findings indicate that race and gender pay disparities are larger at private libraries than at public libraries. However, disparity levels at both public and private ARL libraries are smaller than the national averages for all professions and continue to shrink.

The Internet, the World Wide Web, Library Web Browsers, and Library Web Servers

This article first examines the difference between two very familiar and sometimes synonymous terms, the Internet and the Web. The article then explains the relationship between the Web's protocol HTTP and other high-level Internet protocols, such as Telnet and FTP, as well as provides a brief history of Web development. Next, the article analyzes the mechanism in which a Web browser (client) "talks" to a Web server on the Internet. Finally, the article studies the market growth for Web browsers and Web servers between 1993 and 1999. Two statistical sources were used in the Web market analysis: a survey conducted by the University of Delaware Libraries for the 122 members of the Association of Research Libraries, and the data for the entire Web industry from different Web survey agencies.

ARL instruction librarians and the one-box: a follow-up study

PurposeThe effectiveness and usability of one-boxes have been subjects of much research and debate, as librarians have worked to evaluate and improve the tools’ effectiveness and functionality. As one-box technologies change and improve over time, librarians must learn to navigate their new features and limitations. This paper aims to report the results of a study that sought to determine whether or not one-box teaching practices and philosophies of librarians of Association of Research Libraries (ARL) changed between the fall of 2011 and the spring of 2016.Design/methodology/approachThis study was conducted using the same survey questions that were sent to ARL instruction and reference librarians in October of 2011. The survey was e-mailed to the same librarians who responded to the original survey. Questions focused on how librarians use the one-box during instructional opportunities and their overall opinions on the one-box as an option.FindingsThere were similarities between the two studies in that librarians agreed that one-box search tools tended to be beneficial for novices as an entrée into library resources but not as valuable for significant research. Librarians also noted the need for improvement in the results and felt that the products did not live up to their hype. There was a slight shift from negative opinions to more neutral opinions, indicating that some librarians have become more accepting of the tool. This shift may reflect a gradual change that suggests that librarians have become more comfortable with or accustomed to the presence of the one-box and its features.Research limitations/implicationsAlthough this follow-up study was sent to all participants who had responded to the first study, fewer than 25 per cent of the original number responded to the survey in 2016.Originality/valueThis is the first study to examine the shift in practices and philosophies over the past five years of a select group of reference and instruction librarians.

Exploring the Canadian Federated Research Data Repository Service

Good data management requires support for researchers at all stages of the data lifecycle, from policy and planning development to infrastructure that ensures data is findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable (FAIR). While several excellent institutional, domain-specific, and general repositories currently exist both within Canada and abroad, Canada lacks nationally coordinated solutions for managing research data, and the question of where to deposit data for discovery, reuse, and preservation remains pervasive. Developed through a partnership between the Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL), the Portage Network, and Compute Canada, the Federated Research Data Repository (FRDR) seeks to address a longstanding gap in Canada’s research infrastructure by providing a single platform from which research data can be ingested, curated, preserved, discovered, cited, and shared. The platform’s federated search tool will provide a focal point to discover and access Canadian research data, while the range of services provided by FRDR will help researchers store and manage their data, preserve their research for future use, and comply with institutional and funding agency data management requirements. In this presentation, participants will learn about the development of the new system, current and planned functionality, the timeline for service launch, the proposed distributed service model to support institutions both locally and nationally, and a brief overview of research projects we will be supporting as the platform moves toward launch. Researchers will gain an understanding of how they can use FRDR to make their research data discoverable and accessible, as well as comply with increasing funder expectations for the management of research data.

Building Research Competencies in Canadian Academic Libraries: The CARL Librarians' Research Institute

ABSTRACTThis article overviews work by the Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL) to build the workforce competencies and capacity of academic librarians in respect of librarian research skills. CARL's Librarians' Research Institute (LRI) is reviewed and evaluated as a case study example of strategic and collaborative workforce capacity building. The CARL LRI offers a model for possible replication by others seeking to build workforce competencies and capacity through collaborative action.