A Bimonthly Report on Research Library Issues and Actions from ARL, CNI, and SPARC, 2000
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DOCUMENT RESUME ED 454 852 IR 058 143 AUTHOR Barrett, G. Jaia, Ed. TITLE A Bimonthly Report on Research Library Issues and Actions from ARL, CNI, and SPARC, 2000. INSTITUTION Association of Research Libraries, Washington, DC. ISSN ISSN-1050-6098 PUB DATE 2000-00-00 NOTE 98p.; Previous title of newsletter: "ARL: A Bimonthly Newsletter of Research Library Issues and Actions." Published bimonthly; only five issues were published in 2000. For the 1999 issues, see ED 437 979. AVAILABLE FROM Association of Research Libraries, 21 Dupont Circle, Washington, DC 20036 (members $25 per year for additional subscription; nonmembers $50 per year). Tel: 202-296-2296; Fax: 202-872-0884; Web site: http://www.arl.org/newsltr/2000.htm1. PUB TYPE Collected Works Serials (022) JOURNAL CIT ARL; n208-213 Feb-Dec 2000 EDRS PRICE MF01/PC04 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS *Academic Libraries; Higher Education; Information Services; Library Associations; Library Cooperation; Library Development; Newsletters; Publishing Industry; *Research Libraries; Scholarly Communication; Scholarly Journals IDENTIFIERS *Association of Research Libraries ABSTRACT This document consists of the five issues of the bimonthly ARL (Association of Research Libraries) newsletter which cover the year 2000. Each issue includes some or all of the following sections: "Current Issues"; reports from SPARC (Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition), Coalition for Networked Information, Office of Leadership & Management Services, and Office of Scholarly Communication; "Diversity"; "Preservation"; "Statistics and Measurement"; "Federal Relations"; "ARL Activities"; and a calendar of events. A special double issue (for February and April) focuses on human resources. "Current Issues" articles cover: principles for emerging systems of scholarly publishing; the feasibility of the ARL developing a "library.org" Web presence, or scholars portal; library catalogs, scholarly portals, and blending the features of both in libraries; and establishing a role for research libraries in learning outcomes assessment programs.(AEF) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. ARL: A Bimonthly Report on Research Library Issues and Actions from ARL, CNI, and SPARC 2000 Numbers 208-213 February December 2000 G. Jaffa Barrett, Editor Association of Research Libraries U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educational Research and Improvement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND ft This document has been reproduced as DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS received from the person or organization BEEN GRANTED BY originating it. Minor changes have been made to C. A. eko.nkt improve reproduction quality. Points of view or opinions stated in this 2 document do not necessarily represent official OERI position or policy. TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) 1 BEST COPYAVAILABLE 11111111 A BIMONTHLY REPORT ON RESEARCH LIBRARY ISSUES AND ACTIONS FROM ARL, CNI, AND SPARC THE CHANGING PROFILE OF RESEARCH LIBRARY PROFESSIONAL STAFF by Stanley Wilder, Assistant Dean, University of Rochester Libraries In demographic terms, librarianship in North CHART 1: AGE OF U.S. LIBRARIANS AND America is a profession apart. Librarians are, as a COMPARABLE PROFESSIONALS, 1998 cr) group, substantially older than those in comparable i 0 , professions, and they are aging at a much faster rate. ..0 , U 0.: cf) This much you may have read in this publication in the 130% ,---- -- -F- = - --,==- --------j,-;-:. -. ,,_ spring of 1996, when I reported the highlights of my 1.020% ------'. II analysis of unpublished, demographic data sets com- : 9, piled from ARL's 1990 and 1994 salary survey of t10%L- -1-,, , atc , librarians employed in ARL's university member 0%' . , P_zi libraries. The full report was published in 1995 as <20 20-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64>=65 The Age Demographics of Academic Librarians: Age z A Profession Apart (Washington: Association of Research Libraries, 1995). Comparable Librarians Professionals ARL's collection in 1998 of comparable demo- N ok graphic data on 8,400 professional staff positions in <20 196,000 0.99 8,000 3.85 110 university member libraries1 provides an oppor- 20-24 1,103,000 5.55 8,000 3.85 tunity to update the 1995 study. The additional data 25-34 5,161,000 25.96 26,000 12.50 allow for a broader perspective from which to assess 35-44 5,910,000 29.72 48,000 23.08 cf) 0 the significance of apparent changes in the popula- 45-54 4,995,000 25.12 77,000 37.02 tion. This article describes what the 1998 data reveal 55-64 2,000,000 10.06 34,000 16.35 about age trends in the ARL university library popu- >=65 519,000 2.61 7,000 3.37 lation, with special analyses by racial/ethnic classification and by type of position. Source: Current Population Survey, Annual Demographic File, 1998, U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the O Age Profile of Librarians Census. in the United States (NI For the sake of context, it is important to note that, as Age Profile of the ARL University a group, librarians in the U.S. are unusually old and Library Population aging rapidly. Data from the Federal government's As a group, ARL university librarians are older than Current Population Survey (CPS) put the percentage comparable professionals and even older than U.S. of librarians age 45 or over at 45.8% in 1990, 52.8% in 1994, and 56.7% in 1998. The contrast between librari- librarians in general, and they are aging quickly: in ans and workers in comparable professions is 1986, 42.4% of the ARL university library population O significant. For example, only 37.7% of comparable was age 45 orover,2compared to 48.0% in 1990, 58.0% professionals (the Professional Specialty occupations in 1994, and 66.1% in 1998. Chart 2 shows the shift of CNI in the CPS data) were age 45 or over in 1998, a gap of the age curve for professional staff in ARL university 19 percentage points. (See Chart 1.) libraries over this twelve-year period. During the 1990s, DT-TO-Ai-ISSUE-ON HUMAN RESOURCES CHART 2: AGE OF ARL UNIVERSITY CHART 3: AGE OF U.S. ARL UNIVERSITY LIBRARIANS, 1986 TO 1998 LIBRARIANS BY RACE/ETHNICITY, 1998 25% 20% 15% 10% h. .... 5% 0% Age -4-1986 -4F-1990 -4F- -M- -A- White African Hispanic Asian N % % American <=24 10 0.1 10 0 Number of Librarians: 25-29 335 4.6 258 3.6 30-34 926 12.6 653 9.2 <=24 15 2 0 3 212 15 16 35-39 1528 20.9 1171 16.6 25-29 4 30-34 404 25 9 26 40-44 1422 19.4 1528 22.4 35-39 540 26 13 41 45-49 993 13.6 1263 17.9 40-44 818 45 17 51 50-54 745 10.2 841 11.9 45-49 1270 54 31 49 55-59 676 9.2 618 8.7 50-54 1278 31 17 49 60-64 496 6.8 477 6.7 55-59 803 21 17 56 >=65 193 2.6 197 2.8 60-64 358 7 11 40 >=65 159 5 6 34 -A-1994 -4-1998 All Ages 5,857 231 125 365 N N Percent of Population: <=24 21 0.3 20 0.3 <=24 0.3 0.9 0.0 0.8 25-29 198 2.7 255 3.6 25-29 3.6 6.5 3.2 4.4 30-34 517 7.2 483 6.8 30-34 6.9 10.8 7.2 7.1 35-39 880 12.2 669 9.4 35-39 9.2 11.3 10.4 11.2 40-44 1413 19.6 990 13.9 40-44 14.0 19.5 13.6 14.0 45-49 1663 23 1529 21.5 45-49 21.7 23.4 24.8 13.4 50-54 1202 16.6 1525 21.4 50-54 21.8 13.4 13.6 13.4 55-59 719 10 991 13.9 55-59 13.7 9.1 13.6 15.3 60-64 412 5.7 456 6.4 60-64 6.1 3.0 8.8 11.0 >=65 193 2.7 209 2.9 >=65 2.7 2.2 4.8 9.3 Source: ARL Annual Salary Survey data, 1998 Source: ARL Annual Salary Survey data, 1986, 1990, 1994, and 1998 the age gap between the ARL university library population degree programs-a traditional source of new profes- and the general population of U.S. librarians widened: sionals hired by ARL libraries-remained high in 1998, this gap was 2.2 percentage points in 1990, compared to though not as high as in 1994. 5.2 percentage points in 1994, and 9.4 points in 1998. To the degree that baby boomers dominate the general The aging of the ARL population appears to be the population of working people, they also dominate the result of several factors: pool of people available to fill vacant positions. All The rate of hire for ARL libraries in 1998 was 25% lower but the youngest baby boomers are currently age 40 than in 1990, though it has remained stable since 1994. or over, hence their prevalence has the effect of aging In 1998, new professionals-the primary source of the population. youth for the population-accounted for 38% of new Racial and Ethnic Minority Groups hires in ARL libraries, but only 4% of the larger ARL in U.S. ARL University Libraries population.3 The ARL Annual Salary Survey includes data relating to the The age of students enrolled in ALA-accredited M.L.S.race and ethnicity of only U.S. ARL university librarians.4 A R L2 0 8 / 2 0 9 FEBRUARY /APRIL 2 0 0 0 TABLE 1: STAFF REDUCTIONS IN FIVECANADIAN CHART 4: AGE OF ARL UNIVERSITY ARL LIBRARIES FROM 1996 TO1997 CATALOGERS AND REFERENCE LIBRARIANS, 1998 20% Professional Support Staff Staff 15% ' ' University Laval 60/0 60/0 McGill University 16% 13% 10 %, McMaster University 14% 13% % Queen's University 11% 9% University of Western Ontario 2°/0 18% Source: ARL Statistics data, 1997 Age In these libraries, the age profiles of racial and ethnic minority groups differed markedly from that of the Catalogers Reference Librarians majority White population between 1990 and 1998, but N % N not in a consistent fashion.