The landscape of higher education is changing profoundly as traditional models of scholarship, research, and teaching give way to new models. New technologies are enabling a transformation of methodologies. Interdisciplinary, collaborative work is increasing in the humanities and social sciences, creating new fields of study. The structures that have organized and supported the disciplines and professions—associations, scholarly societies, publishers, and libraries, among others—are challenged to respond to these changes in a flexible and rigorous way.

CLIR works at the intersection of libraries, scholarship, and technology, in partnership with organizations and individuals representing multiple disciplines and professions to address issues facing scholarly communication and higher education. The following is an overview of CLIR's current work.

Interdisciplinarity, Methodological Transformation,
Emerging Fields of Study

Faculty Research Behavior Workshops. Workshops teach library and IT professionals ethnographic techniques that help them understand faculty members' work practices and how library and information services can address real faculty needs.

Undergraduate Research Practices Workshops. Participants learn techniques for understanding how undergraduates conduct their work.

Infrastructure for Humanities Scholarship. In partnership with Tufts University, CLIR is engaging scholars and academic librarians in examining the services and digital objects needed by scholars in classical studies.

Scholarly Communication Institute (SCI). CLIR is an advisor to the SCI, which in 2010 and 2011 will focus on experimental approaches to new-model scholarly communication.

EthicShare. CLIR helps support EthicShare, a project exploring the use of an online social environment for the interdisciplinary community of practical ethics.

New Models of a Library; Interinstitutional Collaboration

The Digital Library Federation (DLF). The DLF is continuing as a program in CLIR.

Global Digital Libraries Collaborative. An informal community for promoting international cooperation among libraries, archives, museums, and other guardians of worldwide cultural heritage.

Chief Information Officers (CIOs) of Liberal Arts Colleges. This semiannual forum enables CIOs of merged library and computing units to discuss issues affecting teaching and learning on their campuses.

New Skills Needed; Credentialing in an Era of Transformation

Leadership Through New Communities of Knowledge: A program that offers an array of professional development opportunities for library staff at small and mid-sized private colleges and universities.

Frye Leadership Institute: Designed to develop leaders who can guide and transform academic information services for higher education.

Cataloging Hidden Special Collections and Archives: A national program to identify and catalog hidden special collections and archives.

Preserving Recorded Sound Heritage. CLIR is collaborating with the Library of Congress and National Recording Preservation Board to produce publications on recorded sound preservation.

Next Generation Support

Postdoctoral Fellowship in Academic Libraries for Humanists: Awarded to recent Ph.Ds who see opportunities to develop meaningful linkages among disciplinary scholarship, libraries, archives, and evolving digital tools.

Mellon Fellowships for Dissertation Research in Original Sources: Awarded to help graduate students in the humanities and related social science fields pursue original-source doctoral research and gain skill and creativity in using primary source materials in libraries, archives, museums, and related repositories.

A. R. Zipf Fellowship: Awarded annually to a student in the early stages of graduate school who shows exceptional promise for leadership and technical achievement in information management.

Rovelstad Scholarship in International Librarianship: Provides travel funds for a student of library and information science to attend the annual meeting of the World Library and Information Congress.

Meetings and Forums

Link to list of meetings and forums >>