The Association for Research Libraries (ARL) is seeking proposals for 2012 SPEC survey topics. For more than 35 years, ARL has gathered and disseminated data through the SPEC survey programme to assist libraries in the continuous improvement of their management systems. Proposals for topics for the 2012 SPEC survey cycle are now being sought.
Each year, ARL works with librarians in the US and Canada to develop six surveys of the ARL membership on "hot topics" related to research library policies and practices. Survey authors do not need to work at an ARL member library, but only ARL libraries are surveyed.
Criteria for selecting a survey topic include its currency and insightfulness, its importance to research libraries, its relevance to ARL's three strategic directions (Influencing Public Policy, Reshaping Scholarly Communication, and Transforming Research Libraries) or its programmes that promote diversity or assessment, and whether resources that illustrate current policies and practices can be gathered from survey respondents.
Current areas of interest to research libraries that could fit the SPEC survey model include, but are not limited to remote storage/shared storage/collection consolidation; approaches to library collaborations; archiving digital content; non-traditional expertise among library professionals and prevalence of disciplinary expertise among staff; digital image collections and services; managing new forms of scholarship; outcomes influenced by library research across the curriculum; physical and virtual spaces promoting research engagement and content creation; budget restructuring and reallocation, including funding sources, development, and fundraising; strategic planning - approaches and implementation; and strategies for articulating value and impact of library services.
For consideration for 2012, proposals must be submitted online at http://www.formstack.com/forms/?1072045-gzgJwsCiFY by July 22, 2011. Proposals will be reviewed and successful authors will be notified by August 22, 2011.
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