Type Nonprofit organization Location United States
Canada | Headquarters Washington, D.C. Membership 125 | |
Formation December 29, 1932 in Chicago, Illinois President Carol Pitts Diedrichs
- Ohio State University | ||
The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) is a nonprofit organization of the leading research libraries in the US and Canada. As of February 2012, ARL comprises 125 libraries at comprehensive, research-intensive institutions that share similar missions, aspirations, and achievements. ARL member libraries make up a large portion of the academic and research library marketplace, spending more than $1.4 billion every year on library materials.
Contents
- Values and mission
- History 19321962
- ARL Statistics and Assessment Program
- LibQUAL
- Flagship publications
- References
ARL is currently partnered with the Association of American Universities (AAU), the Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL), the Center for Research Libraries (CRL), Coalition for Networked Information (CNI), EDUCAUSE, Library Copyright Alliance (LCA), National Humanities Alliance (NHA), the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC) and SPARC Europe.
Values and mission
Enduring beliefs that bring together Association members in common cause are:
The mission of the Association is to shape and influence forces affecting the future of research libraries in the process of scholarly communication. 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, facilitating the emergence of new roles for research libraries, and shaping a future environment that leverages its interests with those of allied organizations.
History 1932–1962
The Association of Research Libraries held its first meeting in Chicago, Illinois on December 29, 1932. At that time, its membership included 42 major university and research libraries. This first meeting was primarily organizational. The prepared constitution and bylaws were accepted and each library adopted a constitution that stated, "the object shall be, by cooperative effort, to develop and increase the resources and usefulness of the research collections in American libraries." Donald B. Gilchrist was elected as Executive Secretary. The Advisory Committee members included J. Christian Bay (John Crerar Library), James T. Gerould (Princeton University), Harold L. Leupp (University of California – Berkeley), C. C. Williamson (Columbia University), and Phineas L. Windsor (Illinois University).
The first venture to be undertaken by the ARL was a project for the collection of data regarding manuscript collections. This project had little support and was relatively short-lived. However, the second project, the annual listings of the titles of the Ph.D. theses was significant contribution to the profession. The first volume of Doctoral Dissertations Accepted by American Universities was compiled by ARL and was published by H.W. Wilson in 1933. This series of publications would become the predecessor of what is now Dissertation Abstracts. Passed into law in 1933, the National Industrial Recovery Act allowed trade associations and industry representatives to draft industrial codes of fair competition. In order to encourage the preservation of these records, ARL published Address List of Local Code Authorities under N.R.A.: 1933-1935 in 1933 which had been prepared by the National Recovery Administration for the Joint Committee on Materials for Research established by the American Council of Learned Societies and the National Research Council. Two new members were added to ARL in 1936; Grosvenor Library (Buffalo) and New York University. The National Archives had expressed interest in joining but rejected the subsequent invitation.
ARL initiated two projects in 1937; publication of the Library of Congress catalog and an investigation into the pricing policy of the Wilson Company. In December 1937, Keyes D. Metcalf (Harvard University) succeeded Gilchrist as Executive Secretary. Gilchrist continued to edit Doctoral Dissertations Accepted by American Universities and serve on the Wilson Pricing Policy Committee. The University of California – Los Angeles joined the ARL in 1937. Louisiana State University joined ARL in 1938. Keyes's term ended in 1940 and he was replaced by Paul N. Rice (New York Public Library).
In a meeting in January 1942, a proposal for the division of acquisition responsibility was presented. Rice formed a Committee on Postwar Competition in Book Purchases. Members of this committee included Archibald MacLeish (Library of Congress), Keyes D. Metcalf, and Robert Downs (future Director of Libraries at the University of Illinois). This program served as a pilot project for the Farmington Plan. As part of the Library of Congress project, the ARL sponsored the publication of A Catalog of Books Represented by L.C. Printed Cards in 1942.
A two-day meeting was held in March 1944 to discuss a multitude of issues. Resulting from the meeting were a number of committees: Committee on Division of Responsibility for the Acquisition and Recording of Research Materials, Committee to Investigate the Wilson Proposal for Publication of LC Catalog Cards in Book Form, Committee on Reprinting the British Museum Catalog, Committee on Securing Complete Files of Foreign Documents in Certain Designated American Libraries, Committee on Standards for Graduate Colleges, Committee on Statistics of Library Holdings, Committee to Study Plans of Cancellation of Library Discards, Joint Committee on Government Documents, and Joint Committee on Cooperative Buying of Chinese Materials. In 1946, Charles E. David (University of Pennsylvania) was elected Executive Secretary.
The Farmington Plan was initiated in January 1948 covering limited to monographs published in France, Sweden, and Switzerland by 52 cooperating libraries. The overhead expenses were paid for by a grant from the Carnegie Corporation. Also in 1948, ARL Minutes were submitted for publication in College & Research Libraries for the first time.
Robert A. Miller was elected Executive Secretary in December 1951. The Foreign Newspaper Microfilm project was initiated in January 1956. It has 46 subscribers and a first year budget of $14,000. William S. Dix, the 6th Executive Secretary, was elected in 1957. His term lasted only 2 years as he was elected Chairman of the U.S. National Commission for UNESCO in 1959. Stephen A. McCarthy was elected in 1960.
On December 5, 1961 the ARL was incorporated under the laws of the District of Columbia. In May 1962, the National Science Foundation approved a 2-year grant of $58,350 towards the establishment of a full-time ARL Secretariat. The June 1962 invitation meeting brought the total number of ARL members to 72. In 1963, ARL assumed responsibility of publishing annual library statistics.
ARL Statistics and Assessment Program
Annual library statistics have been collected since 1907. Prior to 1962, annual statistics for university libraries were collected by James Gerould. After ARL's incorporation, statistics have been published annually for the members of the ARL. The whole ARL Statistics data series is the oldest and most comprehensive continuing library statistical series in North America.
The ARL Statistics and Assessment program, through its annually published ARL Statistics, monitors the collections, expenditures, staffing, and services of member libraries of the Association. Statistics have been collected and published annually since 1961-62 and serve as indicators of the costs of serials and monographs as well as of the state of funding for research libraries.
LibQUAL+
Models for measurement and evaluation that address issues of service quality, electronic resource usage and value, and outcomes assessment have also been developed. LibQUAL+ is based on Colleen Cook's (currently Dean of Libraries at McGill University) dissertation and is the most mature of these models. It is a suite of services that libraries use to solicit, track, understand, and act upon users' opinions of service quality. LibQUAL+ has been implemented in more than 1000 libraries across the world and continuing improvements and research has made it sustainable. Results have been used to develop a better understanding of perceptions of library service quality, interpret user feedback systematically over time, and identify best practices across institutions.
Other assessment and evaluation projects and services are available through the ARL Statistics and Measurement Program.