What is ARL and why is Stanford dissing it?

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

Delivered-To: dfarber+ () ux13 sp cs cmu edu
Date: Thu, 29 Jan 2004 13:13:27 -0800
From: janosg () sbcglobal net
Subject: What is ARL and why is Stanford dissing it?
To: "Dave F." <farber () central cis upenn edu>

01/29/04

Stanford withdraws from Association of Research Libraries

Stanford officials confirmed today that the university has withdrawn from
the Association of Research Libraries (ARL), an organization the university
helped establish more than 70 years ago. Notice of the decision was sent to
ARL President Sarah Thomas during the winter recess, and the withdrawal went
into effect Jan. 1.

University Librarian Michael A. Keller made the decision after conferring
with President John Hennessy, Provost John Etchemendy and the heads of the
five campus coordinate libraries that are administratively separate from the
Stanford University Libraries and Academic Information Resources. None
voiced opposition to the decision.

Keller said the university`s decision came during an annual review of
expenses and engagements and had to do with a number of concerns the
university had with ARL operations. Keller said the university had to comply
with labor-intensive annual reporting requirements.

``The bottom line is that we no longer saw a return on Stanford`s continued
investment of dues, of reporting effort, or of staff engagement in ARL,``
Keller said. The university paid roughly $20,000 in dues to the organization
every year.

He explained that his concerns with ARL focused on mission drift, weak
oversight of programs and direction, and inadequate management on the part
of members.  He said he felt that ARL programs had not been subjected to
sufficiently rigorous cost-benefit analysis.

``ARL is not serving the needs of this institution or of the community of
research institutions as we understand them,`` Keller said. ``We have other
ways of engaging productively with our peers and partners in the research
community.``

Keller declined to provide the text of a letter that contained detailed
comments on ARL decisions and policies, though he hoped that ARL leaders
would see fit to provide that letter to all of its current members. The
withdrawal letter did not indicate conditions or circumstances that would
prompt Stanford to reconsider membership.

ARL is a nonprofit membership organization comprising the leading research
libraries in North America, including nearly all of the university`s peer
institutions. The organization`s mission is to shape and influence forces
affecting the future of research libraries through lobbying, various
collaborations and projects.

-30-

By Ray Delgado


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================
Janos Gereben/SF
www.sfcv.org
janosG () sbcglobal net

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