News from the Field

David Free

25 recordings chosen for National Recording Registry

Madonna’s cultural ascent with “Like a Virgin,” Mariah Carey’s perennial number one Christmas hit, Queen Latifah’s groundbreaking “All Hail the Queen,” and Daddy Yankee’s reggaeton explosion with “Gasolina” are some of the defining sounds of the nation’s history and culture that will now join the National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress. The 2023 class also includes the first sounds of a video game to join the registry with the Super Mario Bros. theme, powerful voices of women, important inductions of Latin music, and classic sounds of rock and pop from the 1960s to the 1980s.

Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden recently named 25 recordings as audio treasures worthy of preservation for all time because of their cultural, historical, or aesthetic importance in the nation’s recorded sound heritage. The recordings selected for the National Recording Registry bring the number of titles on the registry to 625, representing a small portion of the national library’s vast recorded sound collection of nearly 4 million items. The latest selections named to the registry span from 1908 to 2012 and range from the first recordings of mariachi music and early sounds of the blues to radio journalism leading up to World War II, and iconic sounds from pop, country, rock, R&B, jazz, rap, and classical music. Learn more at https://loc.gov/recording.

ACRL launches Academic Library Advocacy Toolkit

ACRL is pleased to announce the launch of the new Academic Library Advocacy Toolkit. Developed by a joint task force comprising members from ACRL’s New Roles and Changing Landscapes and Value of Academic Libraries goal-area committees, the toolkit is a curated collection of resources that can help equip academic library administrators and library professionals with the resources they need to advocate for the value, roles, and contributions of academic libraries to their campus communities.

The toolkit was created in response to current and concrete pressures many academic libraries are facing, including challenges related to budgets, a diminished workforce, professional roles, and more. The toolkit is designed around six primary topics:

• Student Success
• Faculty Support
• Employment Status
• Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion
• Affordability
• Strategic Goals

Each of these topics includes a variety of resources including ACRL reports, books, standards and statements, tools and toolkits, workshops and RoadShows, and more.

The toolkit, freely available at https://acrl.libguides.com/advocacytoolkit, is a dynamic resource that will be updated as new publications and resources become available. Explore it for advocacy techniques, tips, and strategies, and if you have an academic library advocacy success story or suggestions for additional resources, please share via the Suggestions & Feedback Form on the toolkit homepage.

CCAHA, Lyrasis announce Collections Stewardship Succession Planning Initiative

The Collections Stewardship Succession Planning Initiative is a two-year project of the Conservation Center for Art & Historic Artifacts (CCAHA), in partnership with Lyrasis, created to actively address the need for leadership development and knowledge transfer in the cultural heritage workforce. Funded by a National Leadership Grant for Museums from the Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS), the initiative will gather data and build professional development resources to support succession planning for collections stewardship staff and volunteers. As succession planning is a critical instrument in addressing a long-term shift at cultural heritage organizations toward greater diversity, equity, and inclusion, the suite of resources will promote strategies to keep these important concerns at the forefront during times of transition. CCAHA and Lyrasis will use a series of small group listening sessions and a national survey to learn about successful succession-planning strategies and pathways that have proven more challenging for institutions in the project’s target group. Learn more at https://lyrasisnow.org/press-release-ccaha-and-lyrasis-announce-succession-planning-initiative-for-collections-stewardship/.

New from ACRL—Integrated Library Planning: A New Model for Strategic and Dynamic Planning, Management, and Assessment

ACRL announces the publication of Integrated Library Planning: A New Model for Strategic and Dynamic Planning, Management, and Assessment by Myka Kennedy Stephens. The book offers illustrations, charts, sample outlines, and many tools and resources to help you implement responsive planning practices and effectively navigate change.

Many library project plans, from small projects to institution-wide strategic planning committees, follow a linear trajectory: create the plan, do the plan, then review the outcome. While this can be effective, it also sometimes leads to disregarding new information that emerges while executing the plan, making the outcome less effective. Planning processes can also feel forced and predetermined if stakeholder feedback is not seriously considered. When this happens too many times, people stop offering their honest opinions and new ideas because they have learned that the planners do not really want to hear them.

In a concise seven chapters, Integrated Library Planning offers a different kind of approach to planning that is both strategic and dynamic. It is fueled by open communication, honest assessment, and astute observation. Voices at the table, near the table, and far from the table are heard and considered. Its perpetual rhythm gives space to consider new information when it emerges and freedom to make changes at a time that makes sense instead of when it is most convenient or expected.

The era of fixed-length strategic plans is coming to an end. Five-year strategic plans had already given way to three-year strategic plans, and now we find ourselves needing to plan and function when nothing is certain beyond the present moment. The components of this model might look deceptively similar to the strategic planning practices used in libraries and organizations for decades; however, when implemented as a whole, with a monthly review cycle on a rolling planning horizon and space for regular analysis of information needs and behavior, it has the potential to shatter any previous notions of planning that serve only to satisfy administrators. Integrated Library Planning can help libraries effectively navigate and become agents of change.

Integrated Library Planning: A New Model for Strategic and Dynamic Planning, Management, and Assessment is available for purchase in print and as an ebook through the ALA Online Store; in print through Amazon.com; and by telephone order at (866) 746-7252 in the United States or (770) 442-8633 for international customers.

Bloomsbury announces Bloomsbury Open Collections

Bloomsbury recently announced the launch of a pilot program for a new collective-action funding model for open-access books. Bloomsbury Open Collections seeks to spread the cost of open access publications across multiple organizations while providing private benefits to participating libraries, aiming to reach and engage a more diverse set of authors, bringing their work to a wider global audience.

In its pilot year, Bloomsbury Open Collections aims to make research from the Global South more widely available, and to make open access publishing an option for more authors from the region. If the pilot is successful, 20 academic titles in African studies and international development will be made open access immediately on publication, thanks to collective funding from institutional libraries. More information on the initiative can be found at http://www.bloomsbury.com/bloomsbury-open-collections.

New from ACRL—Conducting a Map Collection Review: A Workbook to Help You on the Journey

ACRL announces a new, freely available digital publication, Conducting a Map Collection Review: A Workbook to Help You on the Journey, by Janet Reyes, geospatial information librarian at the University of California-Riverside. Map collection reviews can be emotionally trying and a lot of work. They can also uncover happy surprises and provide numerous learning opportunities. Conducting a Map Collection Review will help you surface important considerations and organize your thoughts as you approach the process of efficiently conducting a review while respecting the materials and stakeholders involved.

This workbook covers the review process from beginning to end, from getting started to potential partners through developing criteria, establishing processes, and how to make crucial dispersal and disposal decisions. It also includes a thorough list of terms and easy-to-print worksheets. The focus is on sheet maps, although shelved and miscellaneous items are also considered.

Whether you know and love your map collection or haven’t yet become well acquainted, Conducting a Map Collection Review can walk anyone who has been tasked to review a collection—no matter their level of familiarity with printed maps, librarianship, or project management—from the initial daunting steps of your review through the final paces. Conducting a Map Collection Review is freely available at https://www.ala.org/acrl/publications/booksanddigitalresources/digital.

EBSCO joins ReShare community

EBSCO Information Services (EBSCO) has officially joined Project ReShare to provide financial contributions and expertise to the ReShare Community. The ReShare Community is drawn from libraries, consortia, information organizations, and developers. The ReShare Project is building a user-centered, app-based, community-owned resource-sharing platform for libraries.

EBSCO’s application for membership was driven by three aims: to develop the features and functionality of the ReShare platform reflecting the needs of consortia globally, to resource additional expert input from knowledge integration being applied to that development, and to expand the pool of vendors contributing to ReShare. Learn more about ReShare at https://projectreshare.org/about/community-charter/.

ARL releases final report of Research Library Impact Framework pilot initiative

The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) Research Library Impact Framework (RLIF) pilot initiative, established in 2019, has released its final report, “Building a Community of Assessment.” The report details the research projects, findings, and lessons learned from the pilot phase of this framework. It also includes information about the framework itself as a means to explore and learn about research library impacts. Finally, the report identifies next steps and potential considerations for any future implementation. RLIF provides a structure to examine library services, operations, impact, and alignment with institutional mission and goals across four critical areas: research and scholarly life cycle; teaching, learning, and student success; collections; and physical space. The full framework includes 185 potential research questions across these critical areas. The full framework includes 185 potential research questions across these critical areas. View and download “Building a Community of Assessment” at https://www.arl.org/resources/building-a-community-of-assessment-final-report-of-the-research-library-impact-framework-pilot-initiative/.