[no subject]

[Jennifer McLennan <jennifer@arl.org>]

For Immediate Release
March 17, 2008

For more information, contact:

Jennifer McLennan
SPARC
jennifer@arl.org
(202) 296-2296 x121

Kara Malenfant
ACRL
kmalenfant@ala.org
(312) 280-2510

CHICAGO & WASHINGTON DC =AD March 17, 2008 -- The Association of
College and Research Libraries (ACRL), the Association of
Research Libraries (ARL), and SPARC (Scholarly Publishing and
Academic Resources Coalition) have released a new, short video to
help librarians effectively engage disciplinary faculty and
researchers on the topic of author rights. Starting a
conversation with faculty researchers about securing their rights
as authors is timelier than ever, given the new NIH Public Access
Policy.

The two-minute video presentation, available at
http://blip.tv/file/743274, explains in simple, graphic terms the
potential for wider exposure of scholarly articles when authors
retain key rights. Inspired by the SPARC Author Rights
initiative, the presentation offers three steps to effective
rights management:

1)   Scrutinize the publication agreement
2)   Negotiate with the publisher
3)   Retain the rights you need

Author addenda, such as the SPARC Author Addendum, are
recommended as tools. The video was produced in conjunction with
the ARL/ACRL joint Institute on Scholarly Communication.

Libraries are invited to download the video as is or to adapt and
customize for their needs, using the video source files at
http://www.arl.org/sc/institute/instres.shtml. Insert your logo
and contact information, add examples from your faculty and their
disciplines, or provide details about an author addendum used on
your campus.

For more detail on issues related to author rights, visit the
SPARC Author Rights initiative, where you can subscribe to the
new author rights discussion forum, download a brochure, explore
recorded Web casts and podcasts, print a standard addendum, and
more. See http://www.arl.org/sparc/author . The Institute on
Scholarly Communication also offers extensive resources for
campus outreach on scholarly communication issues. See
http://www.arl.org/sc/institute/instres.shtml.

##

ACRL

ACRL is a division of the American Library Association (ALA),
representing more than 13,000 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. ACRL is on the
Web at http://www.acrl.org.

ARL

ARL is a nonprofit organization of 123 research libraries in
North America. Its mission is to influence the changing
environment of scholarly communication and the public policies
that affect research libraries and the diverse communities they
serve. ARL pursues this mission by advancing the goals of its
member research libraries, providing leadership in public and
information policy to the scholarly and higher education
communities, fostering the exchange of ideas and expertise, and
shaping a future environment that leverages its interests with
those of allied organizations. ARL is on the Web at
http://www.arl.org.

SPARC

SPARC (Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition),
with SPARC Europe and SPARC Japan, is an international alliance
of more than 800 academic and research libraries working to
create a more open system of scholarly communication. SPARC's
advocacy, educational and publisher partnership programs
encourage expanded dissemination of research. SPARC is on the Web
at http://www.arl.org/sparc.

--------------------------
Jennifer McLennan
Director of Communications
SPARC
(The Scholarly Publishing & Academic Resources Coalition)
http://www.arl.org/sparc
(202) 296-2296 ext 121
jennifer@arl.org