This article, written by members of the ACRL Research Planning and Review Committee, summarizes trending topics in academic librarianship from the past two years. These highlights provide a starting point or an update about many topics developed, such as machine learning or new transformative agreements between publishers and libraries. Overarching themes across the profession continue to emphasize the significant amount of change libraries are driving, managing, and navigating.

Library directors face a number of leadership dilemmas. Rising from the ranks, many feel the need to work shoulder-to-shoulder with front-line employees as a “member of the team.” At the same time, many feel the need to engage with non-library constituencies across the campus and beyond in ways that take them out of the library. Which of these leadership models best positions the library for success?

Hosted at OsloMet University through the gracious and untiring efforts of Professor Lars Egeland, the 2020 Library Publishing Group mid-term meeting focused on library publishing platforms (first morning session), on case studies and examples of library publishing services (first afternoon session), and in the second day’s full session on forms of collaboration and networking designed to support library publishing activities.

Release 5 of the COUNTER Code of Practice became effective from January 2019. Now, libraries have twelve months of Release 5 usage data from an array of content providers. Therefore, COUNTER would like to commission research to evaluate Release 5.

Timeline

• Submit proposals by 30 April 2020
• COUNTER will inform successful bidders by 15 May 2020
• Interim Report by 30 August 2020
• Final Report by 7 October 20

Download the call for proposals

The Association of Research Libraries (ARL), the Coalition for Networked Information (CNI), and EDUCAUSE released the second part of a report by Sarah Lippincott, Mapping the Current Landscape of Research Library Engagement with Emerging Technologies in Research and Learning, that will be published in its entirety by late spring 2020. This installment introduces the context and scope of the report, describes the study’s methodology, and explores opportunities that cut across multiple areas of research library services.

The Serials and Other Continuing Resources Section (SOCRS) invites colleagues to submit proposals for its two-hour open session at the IFLA World Library and Information Congress (WLIC), Dublin, Ireland, 15-22 August 2020.

Increasingly, the governments and private organizations which fund research are mandating that the research outputs they support are made available as Open Access content. This naturally has a very direct and relevant impact on serials and other continuing resources which are a crucial part of scholarly communication and are increasingly subject to these mandates. Exploring the various ways these mandates impact scholarly communication, especially with regard to serials and other continuing resources, is vital for understanding both the current scholarly communication environment and how it is developing.

Important Dates

15 March 2020:            Proposal submission deadline

1 April 2020:               Notification to submitters

1 June 2020:              Deadline for authors to submit completed papers

In 2018, OhioLINK engaged its membership to envision a constellation of platforms and applications that would take the next step beyond “next-generation” commercial integrated library systems (ILS). This paper is the result of that process.

The Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL) has announced the publication of the second report in a series by its Open Repositories Working Group (ORWG) – this report focuses on preservation functionality in repositories. This report is published both in English and French.

Ex Libris, a ProQuest company, has completed its acquisition of Innovative, a leading provider of integrated library systems for public, academic, and specialist libraries. Innovative is now a business unit within Ex Libris. Ex Libris will continue to support and develop the solutions that Innovative’s customers have relied on for many years. At the same time, Ex Libris cloud technology will power the development of a cloud-based Polaris SaaS solution for public libraries.

The National Library of Medicine (NLM) launched the new PubMed. The new, responsive design is mobile friendly and reflects NLM’s ongoing efforts to transform PubMed into a modern hub with a fast, reliable, and intuitive search that connects people to the world’s leading sources of biomedical information. The new PubMed will become the default in spring 2020 and will ultimately replace the legacy version.

Please watch the NLM Technical Bulletin for updates and announcements.