ACQNET v1n046 (March 18, 1991) URL = http://www.infomotions.com/serials/acqnet/acq-v1n046 ACQNET, Vol 1, No. 46, March 18, 1991 ===================================== (1) FROM: Christian SUBJECT: Happenings at RLG (147 lines) (1) ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: March 18, 1991 From: Christian Subject: Happenings at RLG Rumors are flying fast and furious about what is happening at RLG. It's not so much that I am against getting excited, but I like to have some clear idea about what it is that's supposed to excite me, and why. So, if you feel like getting excited, I hope the following gives you sufficient reason. It didn't do much for me but, then, I'm jaded and RLG prose rarely does. Date: March 15, 1991 To: BIBTECH Program Representatives From: John Eilts Subject: A digest of the proposal and action taken on "RLG92" The following was prepared by Jennifer Hartzell of RLG Corporate Communications to answer some of the questions that have come in following the press release last week on the new directions for RLG. ____________________________________________________________________ WHAT IS HAPPENING TO THE RESEARCH LIBRARIES GROUP? The Research Libraries Group (RLG) is moving rapidly ahead with a series of changes, authorized by its Board of Governors at their March 1991 meeting, that will dramatically transform the organization and chart its direction for the 1990s. The changes are designed to enable RLG to meet challenges and circum- stances very different today from those that shaped the consortium's course when it was founded in 1974. Many of RLG's original objectives have been reached, while others require re-evaluation in the current context of research needs and technological possibilities. As a result, RLG will reformulate its governance and management structure, membership options, programs, and activi- ties. For the Research Libraries Information Network (RLIN), developments will be away from mainstream library technical processing and towards the identifica- tion, management, and provision of access to an expanded array of online research resources. The RLIN database will be reshaped to concentrate on new, unique, and under-served data, increasing the value of specific resources in the humanities and sciences through their concerted, expanded availability. A number of RLG's and RLIN's current activities and services will be the founda- tion for future projects and products. Factors prompting an RLG transformation include: * The articulation by RLG's members of specific areas where RLG's leadership and leverage are required to meet and anticipate their needs for serving higher education and research. * The potential for new collaborative efforts and new alliances with a broader range of institutions devoted to research and scholarship than were repre- sented in RLG's original membership roster. * The advance of technology, permitting new kinds of solutions to information creation, management, and access, and the availability of alternative sources (such as local systems) for many of the products and services RLG began providing in the 1980s. * The desire of the research library community for more linkage among national networks, like RLG's RLIN and the OCLC Online Computer Library Center, to enable libraries to allocate their budgets effectively, receive enhanced service, and benefit from new services and products. The new organization will be: -- a not-for-profit corporation through which institutions can take responsi- bility for the evolving research information requirements of their libraries and scholars, both nationally and internationally; -- a vehicle for the development of research information management systems, technology, and associated standards, focusing energies on areas where coopera- tive leverage is greatest and can yield immediate and tangible results; -- an organization that identifies needs, sets priorities, undertakes relevant and productive projects, develops supporting systems, and provides critical and affordable services to members and any other institutions that support educa- tion and independent scholarship. The new organization's initial agenda, to be shaped by its members, will encompass: * Major expansion of online bibliographic access to archival holdings, computer files, and visual materials. * Rapid expansion of RLIN's article-level information, including access to table-of-contents, abstracting, and indexing data. * Specialized monographic and serials data. * New data resources in such areas as international holdings of early printed books, specialized art and literature inventories, and publications in non-Roman scripts. * New data management services, like the Archives and Museums Information System, run on workstations in a database-server environment. * Products and services to speed and expand information delivery, like RLG's document transmission workstation, Ariel(tm). * Service models for delivery of such new research materials as computer files. * Continued cooperative preservation microfilming and collaboration in new areas, such as historic photo preservation. * Improved searching facilities for librarians and their clientele. * Data access and entry capacity through an expanded set of communications options, including asychronous dial-up or SprintNet access, connection via local area networks, and Z39.50 connection to a communications server. Changes RLG must make to achieve this: * Disband its standing program committees in favor of dynamic, task-force- driven cooperative projects. * Streamline and refocus its central staff. * Establish a "sponsor" membership category for a handful of institutions who will invest in and shape the organization's agenda and goals. * Create a "participant" membership category for the many kinds of institutions that want to solve a particular problem or create a specific new benefit through RLG's capacity. * Complete discussions aimed at ensuring that reasonable alternatives are available to members and users for services that will not be carried forward to the new organization. * Work with members and general RLIN users in making a successful transition from the current organization and environment to the new one. Where things stand: The RLG Board has voted to endorse moving RLG in the directions outlined above. Further discussion and action at the June Board meeting, and the outcome of staff work being done between now and then, may influence the agenda of the new organization. The new course will be charted while RLG and RLIN continue to provide the customary services and support expected by members and users. RLG welcomes the questions and input of members, users, and other supporters as the organization follows through on current commitments and prepares for change. This is an historic turning point for the organization and those it serves. In the coming years as in the past, RLG will rely on the ideas and involvement of all those who have worked to achieve its many successes and sought its products and services. [For more information, contact Jennifer Hartzell, 415-691-2207 or bl.jlh@rlg.bitnet] ***** END OF FILE ***** END OF FILE ***** END OF FILE ***** END OF FILE *****