effective June 1. Knowledge River is a program for the study of library and informa- tion issues, services, and technologies related to Hispanics and Native Americans. National Archives and Records Administration: Allen Weinstein resigned as Archivist of the United States, effective December 19, 2008, noting health concerns as the reason for stepping down. Deputy Archivist Adrienne Thomas has been named Acting Archivist until a new appointment is named and confirmed. National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH): President Obama appointed Carole M. Watson to serve as Acting Chairman of the NEH. She most recently served as NEH Assistant Chairman for Partnership and National Affairs. Watson succeeds Bruce Cole, who resigned effective January 2009. Honors Minnesota won an Association of College and Research Libraries 2009 Excellence in Academic Libraries Award, which recognizes the staff of a college, university, and community college library for programs that deliver exemplary services and resources to further the educational mission of the institution. Randy Olsen (Brigham Young) received the inaugural BioOne-SPARC Howard Goldstein Award to Advance Scholarly Communication on April 16 at a special ceremony in conjunction with BioOne’s annual meeting of publishers, librarians, and partners. The award was created in 2008 to recognize and encourage efforts to enhance the sustainability of communication within the scholarly community. RLI 263 40 News ( C O N T I N U E D ) APRIL 2009 RESEARCH LIBRARY ISSUES: A BIMONTHLY REPORT FROM ARL, CNI, AND SPARC Recent Reports from ARL Transformational Times: An Environmental Scan Prepared for the ARL Strategic Plan Review Task Force, February 2009 by Charles B. Lowry, Prudence Adler, Karla Hahn, and Crit Stuart http://www.arl.org/bm~doc/transformational-times.pdf Identifies trends that are likely to affect research libraries and the work of ARL over the next several years and considers related challenges as well as opportunities. The Research Library’s Role in Digital Repository Services: Final Report of the ARL Digital Repository Issues Task Force, February 2009 http://www.arl.org/bm~doc/repository-services-report.pdf Identifies key issues surrounding repository development, explores common strategies that libraries are using, analyzes relevant environmental trends, discusses issues where ARL and its member libraries should focus attention, and recommends actions for research libraries to take.