January 12 2007, RLG Programs Partner Update
From Jim Michalko, VP RLG Programs
Today I want to welcome you to 2007, share some news,
point you to a few of the things we've been working on, and invite your
comments on the directions we've set for RLG Programs.
What's new in Mountain View?
Staff news: With very mixed
emotions, I am announcing that Anne Van Camp has been appointed the
director of the Smithsonian Institution Archives. As the "Archivist of
the Smithsonian," Anne will be responsible for managing the Smithsonian
Institution Archives and for providing leadership in the management of
the vast archival collections of the Smithsonian.
Anne's last day with RLG Programs and OCLC will be March
1, 2007. All
of us in Programs and Research will feel the loss of Anne's expertise,
guidance, vision, professional insights, fellowship, and friendship
even while we're proud that she was selected to lead this extraordinary
institution.
Web site: This month we've
updated pages on programmatic
activities on this site. Over the next few months, we'll be creating a
new, combined Web presence for Programs and Research that will provide
information on all our activities.
For now, you can learn more about the new RLG Programs
at these Web
pages:
New partners
I'm very pleased to report that the University of
Alberta Libraries has
joined us as a full partner in RLG Programs. The UA Asian Library has
been affiliated with RLG since 1989, and we now welcome the chance to
work more closely with vice provost Ernie Ingles (also chair of the
OCLC Members Council) and Karen Adams, director of library services and
information resources, as well as their colleagues.
New directions
In my October update I outlined the new directions we
set for RLG
Programs. This month, an article in OCLC's NextSpace
describes our intentions and our aspirations for furture activities.
Programs and Research staff will meet in February to
agree on the next
level of detail about our work agenda. The RLG Program Council will
meet in March to review that work agenda, advise on our strategic
choices, and help us move ahead in delivering valued outcomes for the
community. Stay tuned.
Since October we have made progress in a number of our
key areas. Here
are a few highlights.
Supporting new modes of
scholarship
- Drafted principles for mass digitization partnerships
as a discussion document; sought input from a variety of partner staff;
and handed the work off to ARL colleagues for futher development by
their Scholarly Communications Committee.
- Began exploring ways to understand the evolution of
personal research environments and how those environments might better
intersect with library services.
- Renewed conversations around an e-book usage study.
Renovating descriptive
& organizing practices
- Started planning the 2007 RLG Programs Partner Forum,
to address the need for tools that will reduce the costs of metadata
production.
- Held partner meetings in New York, London, and
Seattle to gather current thinking around the future of
discovery-to-delivery services in research libraries.
- Developed program and speaker line-up for a [[LINK
symposium on
discovery-to-delivery issues]] to be held on March
15-16, 2007
at the New York Public Library—registration is now open for
this event.
Managing the collective
collection
- Published [[link to
/en/page.php?Page_ID=20999]] RLG
DigiNews special issue on Asset Management in US
Museums (December 2006).
- Initiated a series of consultations and
collaborations with OCLC colleagues, RLG partners, and strategic
affiliates (CRL, Ithaka, and the "North
American Storage
Trust") around print storage challenges and opportunities.
- Got planning underway for a partner event that will
focus on extending new mass digitization models to special collections
and primary resources.
Modeling new service
infrastructures
- Continued working with four New York City museum
partners (Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Modern Art, Brooklyn
Museum, and Frick Collection) to analyze their holdings and support
their efforts to develop collaborative library services.
- Further refined and extended the conceptual and
organizational reach of the service framework outlined by Brian Lavoie,
Geneva Henry, and Lorcan Dempsey in "A Service Framework for Libraries,"
D-Lib Magazine 12, 7/8 (July/August
2006).
Architecture &
standards
- Launched an initiative to build an Archives
Institution Registry and formed an advisory group of RLG partners and
community experts to participate in this effort.
Measurements &
behaviors
- Advised and assisted on CAMIO usability testing and
organized current CAMIO subscribers to react to the new service
platform.
- Assisted in conducting an OCLC pilot for a WorldCat
ethnographic study.
We've made this progress even while Programs staff
members continue to invest themselves in supporting or managing service
transition activities. The smooth migration and successful
establishment of RLG services in their new environment is a high
priority and advancing on schedule.
Mark your calendars
In January several of us
will be [[linkd to en/page.php?Page_ID=20982]]
converging in Seattle
for the Midwinter Meeting of the American Library Association.
In February RLG Programs
will be
represented at the OCLC Members Council meeting in
Quebec City.
In March we hope to see
many of you
at our symposium "[[link to /en/page.php?Page_ID=20986"
Discovery
to Delivery and Beyond: Issues for the Research Library]]."
I wish you all a very happy and prosperous new year and
hope that you
will continue to share your comments and ideas with us as we continue
forward.
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