RLI 282 Research Library Issues: A Report from ARL, CNI, and SPARC 2013 F or the past five years, ARL members have responded to the annual “Ten-Minute Survey”—three questions about budget allocations at the beginning of the fiscal year. Response rates have been fairly high, signifying great interest in understanding how ARL libraries are faring since the 2008 economic downturn. The most recent survey covering fiscal year 2012–2013 was administered in late 2012 and, in “ARL Library Budgets after the Great Recession, 2011–13,” Charles B. Lowry, retired ARL executive director, analyzes the survey results for the past two fiscal years. Lowry discusses the data from both years separately as well as reporting on the 88 libraries that responded for both fiscal years, noting upward and downward trends in allocations. Karla L. Strieb, Ohio State University, and Julia C. Blixrud, ARL, present their findings from the 2012 survey of ARL member libraries about their subscriptions to journal collections from large publishers in “The State of Large-Publisher Bundles in 2012.” The 2012 survey builds on data collected in 2002 and 2005 and highlights a number of trends over time. Two examples include the percentage of contracts licensed via consortium and the shift from print to electronic-only subscriptions. Strieb and Blixrud note that pricing models and license terms, consortial agreements, and the conversion from print to electronic subscriptions remain key issues over the past 10 years. In the last article in this issue of RLI, “Evolving Models of Reference Staffing at the University of Kansas [KU] Libraries,” Frances Devlin and John Stratton describe steps taken at KU to address the changing roles of librarians and the impact on traditional service desks. With librarians spending more time in leadership roles in areas of open access, copyright consultancy, data-services management, and classroom teaching, a new service model was needed. The KU model for staffing the reference desk has evolved into a formal training and development program for research specialists. —Sue Baughman, editor In This Issue ARL Library Budgets after the Great Recession, 2011–13 2 The State of Large-Publisher Bundles in 2012 13 Evolving Models of Reference Staffing at the University of Kansas Libraries 21
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