Brillat, Gordon Daines. Bottom row, left to right:
Greg Davis, Glenn McGuigan.
The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) has appointed five ARL library staff as visiting program officers (VPOs) to advance the Research Library Impact Framework initiative, starting in July 2019.
The Research Library Impact Framework, developed for the ARL Research and Analytics program, is an agenda for the exploration of library services, operations, impact, and alignment with institutional mission and goals across four areas: Research & Scholarly Life Cycle; Teaching, Learning & Student Success; Collections; and Physical Space. The framework provides the scaffolding for deeper exploration across multiple library service areas and serves as the foundation for the Association’s research agenda.
The ARL Research and Analytics Committee identified five research topics from the framework as high priority based on extensive feedback from ARL library directors and assessment practitioners. All of the topics in the framework are intended to help ARL members “set the context for understanding and communicating the stories of the research library to external stakeholders and to provide the tools for members to tell this story locally.”
Fifteen project teams from ARL member libraries in Canada and the United States are exploring the five research topics over the next 12 to 18 months. The teams will report on the results and will share practices that can be implemented by other libraries.
The VPOs will work with Sue Baughman, ARL interim program director for Research and Analytics, to support the ARL library teams with project management, facilitation of meetings to develop research aims and project scope, and community engagement across projects. The VPOs were selected based on their expertise in assessment, project management, and subject matter.
Stephanie McReynolds, business, management, and entrepreneurship librarian at Syracuse University, will provide overall project management facilitation and leadership for the project teams. She will work with Baughman to advance the project timeline and assist with the development of agendas for meetings of all project teams that will occur two times over the course of the next year. McReynolds will also work with Baughman to engage with the team exploring the question “(how) do library collections play a role in attracting and retaining top researchers and faculty to the institution?”
Ava Brillat, librarian for English, theater, and classical studies at the University of Miami, will support the project teams exploring the question “(how) does the library contribute to equitable student outcomes and an inclusive environment?”
Gordon Daines, department chair for the L. Tom Perry Special Collections at Brigham Young University, will engage with the project teams exploring “(how) do the library’s special collections specifically support and promote teaching, learning, and research?”
Greg Davis, assistant director for assessment and planning at Iowa State University, will support the project teams exploring “(how) do library spaces facilitate innovative research, creative thinking, and problem solving?”
Glenn McGuigan, library director at Penn State Harrisburg, will engage with the project teams exploring “(how) does the library help to increase research productivity and impact?”
The ARL Visiting Program Officer program provides opportunities for outstanding staff members at ARL member libraries and archives to contribute to special projects and programs, either in whole or in part, in order to advance the agenda of the Association. Visit the ARL website for more information about the Visiting Program Officer program.
About the Association of Research Libraries
The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) is a nonprofit organization of 124 research libraries in Canada and the US whose mission is to advance research, learning, and scholarly communication. The Association fosters the open exchange of ideas and expertise, promotes equity and diversity, and pursues advocacy and public policy efforts that reflect the values of the library, scholarly, and higher education communities. ARL forges partnerships and catalyzes the collective efforts of research libraries to enable knowledge creation and to achieve enduring and barrier-free access to information. ARL is on the web at ARL.org.
