Q: Jim, why do we not have a central mandate for preservation and conservation? Who is responsible? Isn’t it ARL? Jim Neal: ARL in my view, as part of its current strategic plan, largely set aside a programmatic priority for preservation. There are initiatives that have explored areas of interest, like in e-science and the current report that Lars prepared. And when preservation touches information policy and scholarly communication, ARL has been very active. A new strategic focus on Transforming the Research Library may allow for more of a programmatic focus on preservation, but ARL has generally avoided operational roles. To cite this article: “Evolving Preservation Roles and Responsibilities of Research Libraries.” Research Library Issues: A Bimonthly Report from ARL, CNI, and SPARC, no. 266 (October 2009): 7–12. http://www.arl.org/resources/pubs/rli/archive/rli266.shtml. RLI 266 12 Evolving Preservation Roles and Responsibilities of Research Libraries ( C O N T I N U E D ) OCTOBER 2009 RESEARCH LIBRARY ISSUES: A BIMONTHLY REPORT FROM ARL, CNI, AND SPARC