November 2005
The AAU/ARL Global Resources Network (GRN) is a collaborative initiative of the Association of American Universities (AAU) and the Association of Research Libraries (ARL), in cooperation with the Center for Research Libraries, which pursues two complementary approaches in developing a new and more robust model for access to international information. A series of discrete projects focus on significantly expanding the depth, breadth, quantity, range of formats, and variety of international information resources available to students and scholars. A second thrust provides the framework for leadership and development of coordinated acquisitions strategies that minimizes unnecessary duplication and supports enhanced access to existing collections. The GRN is an umbrella under which scholars, librarians, and other university administrators can work together through specific, voluntary cooperative collections and archives projects, and serves as a framework that supports enhanced bibliographic access and finding aids; rapid delivery systems; the development of electronic and digital resources; and the establishment of international partnerships, to achieve the goals of the Network.
GRN currently is supported by modest ARL dues support, supplemented by voluntary contributions. Sixty-eight member representatives made voluntary contributions of $1,500 to support GRN program activities in 2005. The call for contributions for a reduced amount of $1,200 for 2006 was sent out in early October. A list of contributors to GRN appears at the end of this report.
GRN and the Center for Research Libraries (CRL)
At their most recent respective meetings, the Boards of Directors of both ARL and CRL approved the transfer of the leadership, governance, coordination, and services of the Global Resources Network from ARL to CRL, effective January 1, 2006, under the direction of the Center's Director of International Resources, James Simon. GRN activities in 2006 will be funded by voluntary contributions from ARL member libraries, in-kind contributions from CRL, and, if needed, by modest ARL dues support. Beginning in 2007, the funding strategy to support the Network will be the sole responsibility of the Center. CRL currently administers four of the original six GRN projects, and manages a number of area studies and international cooperative collections programs. CRL is in a position to further GRN goals, build additional synergies between GRN and existing CRL international programs, and provide enhanced access to international and foreign language materials.
The current GRN Advisory Committee will remain in place for calendar 2006 under the aegis of CRL. The Committee will continue to provide intellectual leadership and direction to the Network, ensure a smooth transition, and provide continued ARL oversight while ARL members contribute to GRN funding. Eudora Loh, the current director of GRN, will continue to serve as a full member of the GRN Advisory Committee. The plan is on the GRN web site at: http://www.crl.edu/grn/transition.pdf
Evolution of GRN
This recent action culminates more than a decade of ARL effort to advance the goal of expanding the range of international resources for scholars and students. The origins of GRN and the interest from the Association of American Universities (AAU) began in 1994 when the AAU Research Libraries Project called for development of a distributed program for access to foreign acquisitions. Subsequent funding from the Mellon Foundation supported the first five years of the AAU/ARL Global Resource Program based at ARL.
At the May 2003 ARL Membership Meeting, member representatives were briefed on the status of the program and its initial achievements, and discussed four scenarios for its future. Two key recommendations emerged from that discussion. First was a recommendation that ARL dues should be made available to support GRN, with an initial allocation beginning as soon as possible. The second recommendation was that ARL should be proactive in involving the Center for Research Libraries in the program. Following that membership discussion, a modest allocation of dues began to be used to provide partial support for the (renamed) AAU/ARL Global Resources Network (GRN). The dues were supplemented with voluntary contributions from member libraries. In addition, an agreement was reached with CRL to provide support for the two GRN projects that were then being supported by ARL.
In 2004, the ARL Board decided to revisit the question of dues support for GRN and a follow up discussion was held with member representatives. Given the ARL strategic planning discussions underway at that time, the decision was made to postpone a decision on the future of GRN even while initiatives continued in 2004-2005, supported with a mix of dues and voluntary contributions from 68 member libraries.
In February 2005, the ARL Board endorsed, in principle, CRL's invitation to transfer GRN to CRL. The transfer was seen as in line with ARL's strategic plan to work with partner organizations to advance some of ARL's activities and projects. It also was the logical extension of the collaboration between ARL and CRL, manifested most recently in the successful move of administrative responsibility for the German and Latin American global projects to CRL. Since the goal of CRL is to develop collections that will support the globalization of universities, and current CRL programs already have links to GRN, there could be both synergy and economies if GRN activities were more closely tied to CRL programs.
The GRN Steering Committee, in consultation with the GRN Advisory Committee, developed a transition plan which clarified the vision and scope of activities of the GRN and detailed the transfer to CRL, including governance, budget issues, and projected program activities for 2006 with a budget of $114,800. The proposal assumed that funding to support GRN in 2006 would be a shared responsibility of ARL and CRL, with a call to ARL members for voluntary contributions. Should the call not result in adequate funds in 2006, ARL would provide CRL up to $38,000 in dues to cover any shortfall. In addition, at least one GRN project already has asked participating libraries for a fee to support activities that are specific to that project. The long-term goal of CRL is to integrate GRN activities into CRL programs without any special fee. The ARL Board approved the proposal at its July 2005 meeting to transfer the leadership, governance, coordination, and services of the Global Resources Network from ARL to CRL.
Report on Yale University GRN Forum
"The Global Record: Understanding Its Use and Ensuring Its Future For Scholarship," authored by Ann Okerson, Associate University Librarian, Collections & International Programs at Yale University Library, was published in the June 2005 issue of ARL: A Bimonthly Report at http://www.arl.org/newsltr/240/global.html. It provides a full account of the first GRN Forum hosted by the Yale University Library and Yale's Center for International and Area Studies on March 24-25, 2005. The article underscores the importance of the role of the research library in supporting the "global university." Okerson challenges us to break out of traditional "area studies" modes of thinking and to shift to a more global stance. One of the goals of the forum was to reveal how scholarly uses of international resources are changing. Participants of the Yale conference collectively identified a number of "enabling structures" that are possibilities for a GRN agenda for action. Conference papers are available on the Yale University Library website at http://www.library.yale.edu/mssa/globalrecord/new_web/
New French-North American GRN Project Launched
With the endorsement of the GRN Advisory Committee, a new GRN global project has been launched. The Collaborative Initiative for French and North-American Libraries (CIFNAL)/ Initiative de Collaboration entre les bibliothèques françaises et nord-américaines (ICBFN) formed at the June 2005 meeting of the American Library Association with the goal to promote and facilitate the cooperative exchange of ideas and resources between French and North American libraries. Inspired by successful GRN project models, the Ad Hoc Committee of the Association of College and Research Libraries Western European Studies Section (ACRL-WESS) on French-North American Resources project drafted a proposal and held meetings of interested librarians to elicit interest and to refine objectives. The group is currently working to establish contacts with partners in France, develop digitization projects, and elaborate a governance structure. Background information is available in the Fall 2005 issue of Global Resources Newsletter.
For additional information on CIFNAL, contact Sarah G. Wenzel, Ad Hoc Committee chair, sgw2103 at columbia.edu.
Fourth Issue of GRN Newsletter Issued
The Fall 2005 issue of the GRN newsletter, Global Resources, is now available. The issue features articles on the Latin Americanist Research Resources Project. It highlights recent developments in the Latin American Open Archives Portal, enhancement to the LAPTOC database to OpenURL compliance, and continuing efforts to expand LARRP's Distributed Resources Project to build shared collection strengths. The issue also features an article on the Duke University "History, Memory and Democracy" conference of organizations documenting the years of state terror in Argentina and Chile and the associated efforts to establish a network of digital resources of their archives. The GRN Director's Message covers the move to CRL and the launch of CIFNAL. To download Global Resources in PDF format, go to http://www.crl.edu/grn/newsletter/GRN_4.pdf
GRN at Library of Congress Field Directors Conference
The 16th Field Directors Conference at the Library of Congress brought together the directors of LC's six overseas field offices. At a session on May 31, 2005 on "Collection Development and Collaborations," featured speakers summarized the essential needs of government and academic researchers. LC area studies and subject specialists gave summaries on trends in their respective areas. Bernie Reilly of the Center for Research Libraries and Dan Hazen of Harvard University presented their perspectives on the needs of academic researchers. GRN Director, Eudora Loh, was invited to speak about the Global Resources Network, its goals and global projects, and to suggest possible areas for future collaboration with the LC field offices. This session culminated months of discussions between LC's overseas operations staff and GRN and investigation the range of potential activities that might expand services to the academic community.
GRN Advisory Committee Members
Barbara Allen*, CIC, Chair; Carolyn Brown, Library of Congress; Jean-Pierre Cóté, Université de Montréal; Richard Herring, University of Pennsylvania; John Hudzik, Michigan State University; Stan Katz, Princeton University; Paula Kaufman, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign; Peter Lange, Duke University; James Nye, University of Chicago; Louis Pitschmann, University of Alabama; Alice Prochaska, Yale University; Bernard Reilly*, Center for Research Libraries; Betsy Wilson, University of Washington; Pauline Yu, American Council of Learned Societies. Liaisons include Eudora Loh*, University of California, Los Angeles/GRN Director; Mary Jackson*, ARL; John Vaughn*, AAU; and Duane Webster*, ARL. GRN Steering Committee members are asterisked.
For Additional GRN Information
For additional information about GRN or its activities contact Eudora Loh, GRN Director, dora at arl.org.
ARL Libraries Contributing Funding to the Global Resources Network
2004, 2005, and 2006
As of October 27, 2005
Arizona State University #*+
Boston College #*+
Brigham Young University #+
Brown University #*+
Case Western University #
Center for Research Libraries #
Columbia University #+
Cornell University #*+
Duke University #*+
Emory University #*+
Florida State University #
Georgetown University #*+
Georgia Tech University #*
Harvard University #*+
Indiana University #*
Library of Congress #
McGill University #*
Michigan State University #*+
National Agricultural Library #
National Library of Medicine #
New York Public Library #*
New York University #*
North Carolina State University *+
Northwestern University #*
Ohio State University #*
Ohio University #*+
Pennsylvania State University #*
Princeton University #*
Purdue University +
Rice University +
Rutgers University #*+
Temple University +
Texas A&M University #*
Texas Tech University #
Tulane University #*
Université Laval #*+
University at Albany, SUNY #*
University at Buffalo, SUNY #*
Université de Montréal #*
University of Alabama #*+
University of Alberta #*
University of Arizona *+
University of British Columbia #+
University of California, Berkeley #*
University of California, Irvine #*+
University of California, Los Angeles #*+
University of California, San Diego #*+
University of California, Santa Barbara#*+
University of Chicago #
University of Cincinnati #*
University of Colorado #*
University of Connecticut #*
University of Delaware #*+
University of Florida *
University of Guelph #*
University of Hawaii at Manoa #*+
University of Illinois at Chicago *
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign #*+
University of Iowa #*+
University of Kansas #*+
University of Kentucky #*+
University of Louisville #*
University of Massachusetts *+
University of Michigan #*
University of Minnesota #*
University of Missouri-Columbia #*
University of Nebraska-Lincoln #*
University of New Mexico #*
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill #*
University of Notre Dame #*+
University of Oklahoma #*
University of Pennsylvania #*
University of Pittsburgh #*+
University of Southern California *+
University of Tennessee #*+
University of Texas at Austin #*+
University of Toronto #*+
University of Utah #+
University of Washington #*+
University of Wisconsin #*
Vanderbilt University #*+
Washington State University #
Washington University in St. Louis #*+
Yale University #*+
York University #
# = 2004 contributions * = 2005 contribution + = 2006 contribution
