ACRL invites comment on scholarly communication research agenda

["Kara Malenfant" <kmalenfant@ala.org>]

Contact: Kara Malenfant
312-280-2510
kmalenfant@ala.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 5, 2007

ACRL invites comment on scholarly communication research agenda

CHICAGO - A new report by the Association of College and Research 
Libraries (ACRL) explores the gaps in our understanding of the 
ways that scholars create and share new knowledge. The report 
lays out a preliminary research agenda for creating greater 
understanding of the rapidly evolving system of scholarly 
communication - the way research results and new knowledge are 
registered, evaluated for quality, disseminated and preserved. 
Meaningful research about the system of scholarly communication 
will inform strategic planning for scholarly communication 
programs.

The white paper, "Establishing a Research Agenda for Scholarly 
Communication: A Call for Community Engagement," encourages 
academics, librarians and their key partners to gather more data 
on practices that both enable and inhibit the production of 
scholarship and its communication. The report identifies eight 
themes, with research possibilities in each area.

The paper resulted from a one-day invitational meeting in July 
2007, to collectively brainstorm the evidence needed to manage 
and influence the changing environment. Attendees included 
representatives from ACRL, the Association of Research Libraries, 
the Council on Library and Information Resources, the Coalition 
for Networked Information, Ithaka, the Andrew W. Mellon 
Foundation and SPARC (Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources 
Coalition). ACRL scholarly communication committee co-chairs John 
Ober of the University of California and Joyce Ogburn of the 
University of Utah convened the meeting and discuss the report at 
<http://blogs.ala.org/acrlpodcast.php>.

The document is available online for public comment at 
<http://www.acrl.ala.org/scresearchagenda>. Please submit 
comments that:

* Refine or expand the need for research, important issues and 
possible projects.

* Identify additional articles and reports that collectively form 
a knowledge base from which the research agenda emerges more 
clearly.

* Suggest ways to conduct the research.

* Volunteer to participate or collaborate in a specific research 
initiative.

* Propose additional avenues of distribution for the report.

Confidential comments may be emailed to John Ober at John.Ober@ucop.edu
or Joyce Ogburn at Joyce.Ogburn@utah.edu.

***

ACRL is a division of the American Library Association (ALA), 
representing more than 13,500 academic and research librarians 
and interested individuals. ACRL is the only individual 
membership organization in North America that develops programs, 
products and services to meet the unique needs of academic and 
research librarians. Its initiatives enable the higher education 
community to understand the role that academic libraries play in 
the teaching, learning and research environments.

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