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What is a library? This question is the foundation for CLIR's agenda at
a time when digital technology is transforming academic and
research institutions. Former Stanford University President Gerhard Casper
offered a thoughtful answer in his remarks at the dedication of the Bing Wing
of Stanford's Green Library in October 1999:
Guarding the rational process is the Western university's
major contribution to civilization. . . . The search to knowthe search
for truthhas always been characterized by the need to doubt, the need
to be critical, including being self-critical: looking not just for
the evidence, but for the counterevidence as well. The holdings of
the university library, paper, object, and digital, are one of the means
by which the university performs its role as the custodian of that
rational process.
It takes courage for a university or college president to build
expensive library facilities at a time when so many technologists predict that
electronic networks and ubiquitous access will make libraries
obsolete. Caught in the debate between library as place and library as
information service, campus communities are forced to find new meaning for
the library.
In some ways, the library's identity seems self-evident, because the
library building has been a symbol on American campuses for more than
200 years. The library is an iconic expression of the campus
community's belief in the importance of knowledge and the creation of new
knowledge. Despite this tradition, however, libraries cannot continue in their
established patterns. They must reinvent themselves so that
tomorrow's scholars and students will be well served by the choices made today.
Reinvention is necessary because the library no longer has a lock
on information resources. Before digital technology changed everything,
the library was the primary information source for students and faculty
alike. What the university or college could afford to spend on library
acquisitions determined the level of easy access the campus community had
to information. No more. There is no central site for scholarly resources
on the campus. Today, libraries must be understood in terms of the
services they provide, not simply in terms of their physical holdings.
The new information environment poses challenges to libraries of
all types. Even the Library of Congress is uncertain how to respond to
the questions posed by digital technology. As James O'Donnell, chairman of
a National Academy of Sciences' study of the Library, made clear in
his overview of LC 21: A Digital Strategy for the Library of
Congress, all libraries are confronted with a series of questions:
Will the distinctive features of the Western library survive?
Will preserved information continue to be widely and freely available
in public libraries? Will the great research libraries continue to be
the point of entry to the information universe for their select band of
users? Will the integration of digital with print information succeed, or
will print suffer a damaging loss of prestige in the general rush to
exploit the possibilities of the Internet? Will new integrators and organizers
of knowledge emerge, perhaps from the commercial sector,
bypassing libraries and finding ways that succeed in putting information
directly in users' hands? No individual and no committee knows the
answers to those questions, but librarians must guide their institutions with
an acute awareness that the questions will be answered
decisivelyperhaps within a very few years.
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Today, libraries must be understood in terms of the services they provide, not simply in terms of their physical holdings.
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The questions O'Donnell raises go to the heart of the difficulties in being
a steward of the rational process. So many new players are now
appearing on the information stage that it is very hard to know how each
influences the whole. And the questions are not left to librarians alone to
answer. Campus administrators are now faced with choices about investments
in information. While once they counted on libraries to select the
most appropriate resources to meet the campus community's
information needs, now the many departments and units on campus are securing
the specialized information they need from Web-based sources developed
by colleagues around the world.
CLIR's agenda has been shaped by our belief that the reinvention
of libraries must involve many different communitiesadministrators
and funding entities who pay the bills, scholars who use the resources to
create new knowledge, and publishers who have been part of the
information chain for well over a hundred years. CLIR sees its role as one of
helping the many interested parties determine how the new system will
preserve the best of the old and incorporate the most promising features of the
new. It would be a mistake to think that the new system involves only
adapting to digital technology. The most interesting questions are connected to
the role of the artifact in the new environment, the legal and
organizational requirements of preserving digital information, and the preparation
and formation of a new cadre of professionals who will be tomorrow's
stewards of information resources. The projects described in this annual
report reflect our understanding of the questions that must be addressed.
In every case, we bring together the diverse interests of the
many groups affected by changes in the system of scholarly communication.
In Gratitude
The activities described in this annual report are generously supported
by 215 institutions, private foundations, and individual donors.
CLIR is not a membership organization; rather, it invites all libraries
that see CLIR's agenda as integral to their own to become partners in
a common enterprise. This year, the number of CLIR sponsors grew
from 109 to 145, a 33 percent increase. Twenty-five research libraries support
the full operational costs of the Digital Library Federation (DLF). To all of
the institutions that invested in our work, we extend sincere thanks.
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CLIR sees its role as one of helping the many interested parties determine how the new system will preserve the best of the old and incorporate the most promising features of the new.
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We are especially grateful to the two foundations that have
provided general support. Funds from the William and Flora Hewlett
Foundation have enabled CLIR to remain flexible in identifying and responding to
the issues we see as critical to the library and scholarly communities in a
time of rapid change. The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation has made
generous grants to support both general operations and specific projects. The
entire library community benefits enormously from Mellon's farsighted
views about changes in scholarly communication and the library's role in
the system.
Other foundationsthe Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation, the
Institute for Museum and Library Services, the William Penn Foundation, and
the Robert W. Woodruff Foundationhave enabled us to advance
some important projects in leadership and resources for scholarship.
Financial resources are essential, but the ideas about what will most
help libraries, archives, and other information agencies come from
CLIR's talented staff. Their contributions, made on a daily basis, often grow out
of the thoughtful, deeply reflective discussions held with the Board
twice annually.
There were some staff changes at CLIR during the year. Hans
Rütimann, who was responsible for international preservation programs for nearly
a decade, resigned in December 1999 to become an independent
consultant. We appreciate the skill he brought to developing networks of
international colleagues who are also working to advance the cause of
preservation. Daniel Greenstein joined CLIR as director of the DLF in December
1999. He brings great intellect and energy to the task of finding ways to
help research libraries collaborate and develop effective digital library
services. DLF Research Associate Rebecca Graham left CLIR in May 1999 to
become head of library computing services and the digital library program
at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. Novera King joined the CLIR
staff in May as the DLF administrative associate. She comes with a degree
in film studies from Columbia University. Finally, we are pleased to have
the able assistance of Ann Marie Parsons, a graduate student in library
science at Catholic University, who joined the CLIR staff as an intern in
January 2000.
It is a privilege to lead this organization. The Board, the staff, and
our sponsors are all committed to creating a future library that takes
full advantage of technology in delivering better and more
customized services. There are many difficult choices facing the library
community, but I take comfort in being surrounded by so many who are
stubbornly dedicated to achieving meaningful change.
Deanna B. Marcum
President
September 30, 2000
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