With the approval of the University Library Council, Harvard has established the Harvard Library Lab. It is managed by Harvard University Library's Office for Scholarly Communication.

Here's an excerpt from the announcement:

Harvard's Library Lab is designed to promote the development of projects in all areas of library activity and to leverage the entrepreneurial aspirations of people throughout the library system and beyond. Proposals from faculty and students from anywhere in the University will also be welcomed and the Lab will encourage collaboration with projects being developed at MIT. The Lab offers infrastructure and financial support for projects and establishes a venue for cooperation across projects. Projects will be able to avail themselves of technical staff to augment the home department's staff, as well as support for release time, equipment, or outsourced services.

Read more about it at "Harvard Library Lab."

The Association of Research Libraries has released the final ARL Annual Salary Survey 2009-2010 tables as an Excel file.

EBSCO has released the "EBSCO Library Collections and Budgeting Trends Survey," which was conducted in February of this year.

Here's an excerpt:

Eighty-three percent of librarians reported either budget cuts or no budget growth during the 2009-2010 year. ARL libraries were especially hard hit with 64 percent reporting budget decreases. Expectations for 2010-2011 are similar with a total of 85 percent of respondents expecting decreased or flat budgets.

James K. Bracken has been named Dean of the Kent State University Libraries effective 8/1/10.

Here's an excerpt from the press release:

Bracken currently serves as the assistant director for Collections, Instruction, and Public Services at The Ohio State University Libraries, a position he has held since 2005. At Ohio State, he also has served in the positions of assistant director for Collections, Instruction, and Main Library Research and Reference Services; head of Second Floor Main Library Information Services; professor in the University Libraries; and adjunct professor in the English department.

Bracken is active with many professional organizations. He serves as reviewer-consultant for Choice and reviewer and assistant editor for CBQ: Communication Booknotes Quarterly. He also is a member of the American Library Association.

Bracken holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Toledo, master’s degrees from both the University of Toledo and the University of South Carolina, and a doctorate in English literature from the University of South Carolina.

The University of Ottawa has become a member of the Association of Research Libraries.

Here's an excerpt from the press release :

At its 2010 Spring Membership Meeting held April 28-30, 2010, in Seattle, WA, the membership of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) voted to invite the University of Ottawa Library to join as its 125th member. Leslie Weir, University Librarian, accepted the invitation.

"This membership is significant as it is a reflection of the importance that the University of Ottawa has placed on research, making it the centrepiece of its academic programs," said Weir. "Scholarly communication is undergoing fundamental changes, and ARL is instrumental in advocating for and developing sustainable, viable models that meet the needs of the research community."

"It is with pride and a great sense of commitment that our Library becomes a member of the Association of Research Libraries," says Allan Rock, president of the University of Ottawa. "As Canada’s university, we understand that supporting our library is critical to our institution’s success in research and learning."

The vote of membership followed a multi-year review process of the uOttawa Library that considered both qualitative and quantitative documentation and involved site visits. The review also examined the breadth and depth of collections, uniqueness of research resources, services to the Library’s community, potential contributions to scholarship, and leadership in the library and information science profession. The review committee noted in particular the sustained growth of the institution and its support for the Library over the past decade.

"The Association of Research Libraries welcomes the University of Ottawa Library as our newest member and looks forward to working with them on addressing the many significant common issues currently facing the global research library community," said Brinley Franklin, ARL president. Charles B. Lowry, executive director of ARL, added, "ARL is delighted the University of Ottawa accepted our invitation to become a member of our association. The unique position it brings to membership in terms of location and language are of benefit to the Association and to the students, the faculty, and their scholarly colleagues and researchers throughout North America."

The University of Ottawa is a cosmopolitan community of over 40,000 students, faculty and staff who live, work, and study in both English and French in the heart of Canada's capital. As one of Canada’s top research-intensive universities, it is committed to excellence and encourages an interdisciplinary approach to knowledge creation. The Library brings together people, expertise, and knowledge resources in physical and virtual environments that foster research, teaching, and learning in both official languages. As a valued partner in the University community, the Library builds and preserves collections and facilitates the discovery and use of knowledge resources both within and beyond its walls through innovative services and technologies. For more information about the Library, visit http://www.biblio.uottawa.ca/index-e.php.

Linda Phillips, Head of Scholarly Communication at the University of Tennessee Libraries, has been named the Interim Dean of that library effective 7/1/10.

Here's an excerpt from the press release:

"Linda has given exemplary service to the University Libraries in a variety of roles including, most recently, as a leader in the Libraries initiatives on open access and other developing trends in scholarly communications," said UT Knoxville Provost and Senior Vice Chancellor Susan Martin. "She brings a wealth of experience and enthusiasm to this critical position. I am grateful for her willingness to serve."

Phillips, an Alumni Distinguished Service Professor, is currently head of scholarly communication for the libraries. She came to UT from Ohio State University's Agricultural Technical Institute Library in 1977. Her work encompasses the creation of local digital collections, including digitization of library holdings; the launch of Newfound Press, the libraries' peer-reviewed digital imprint; and leading community outreach efforts about the libraries' scholarly and economic impact on society.

Phillips succeeds Barbara Dewey, who is leaving to become the dean of university libraries and scholarly communications at Penn State.

The search for a permanent dean will be under way shortly. Douglas Blaze, dean of the College of Law, will lead the effort.

The Association of Research Libraries has begun to use a variety of social media tools, including blogs, Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, and YouTube.

Here's an excerpt from the announcement :

Twitter: Follow @ARLnews on Twitter for general news from ARL, including announcements of new activities, resources, and events. Follow @ARLpolicy on Twitter for tweets from ARL’s Public Policies program covering such issues as copyright & IP, federally funded research, the FDLP, and Net neutrality. Please use the Twitter hashtag #ARL10spr in any tweets about the upcoming Membership Meeting in Seattle.

Facebook: Become a fan of ARL on Facebook to get our latest news and tell us what’s on your mind.

YouTube: Watch our archived webcasts on our YouTube channel.

Flickr: View photos from recent ARL events on our Flickr photostream.

Blogs: Learn about public policy issues that impact the research library community on the Policy Notes Blog. . . . Also join the discussion of library service assessment, evaluation, and improvement on the Library Assessment Blog.

Contingent on approval by the University Board of Trustees, Barbara I. Dewey has been named Dean of University Libraries and Scholarly Communications at the Pennsylvania State University.

Here's an excerpt from the press release:

She [Dewey] will succeed Nancy Eaton, who has held the position since 1997 and will continue her ties with the University in retirement as dean emerita.

"The remarkable expansion of digital content and patrons' growing expectation of online access to scholarly publications have made university libraries an exceptionally complex and integral part of today's intellectual endeavors," said Penn State President Graham Spanier. "I welcome Barbara's leadership as the Penn State University Libraries continues to evolve to serve the academic and research pursuits of our students, faculty and staff."

"I am honored to lead Penn State's library enterprise, building on the tremendous success of its expert faculty and staff in this exciting period of change and transformation," said Dewey. "I look forward to working with Penn State's outstanding academic and alumni communities bringing Penn State scholarship to the world and the world's scholarship to Penn State."

As the leader of Penn State's information resources enterprise, Dewey will serve as the official representative and advocate for the University Libraries and Penn State Press and oversee approximately 1,150 full- and part-time faculty and staff. The University Libraries comprise 14 libraries at the University Park campus and libraries at 22 other campuses, Media Technology Support Services and the University Records Management Program. Collections include more than 5.2 million volumes, 69,000 serial titles, 517 databases and more than 50,000 e-books, as well as extensive holdings of maps, microforms, government publications, archives and audio-visual materials. The University Libraries and the Penn State Press jointly operate the Office of Digital Scholarly Publishing and collaborate on the development of new modes of disseminating research and scholarship. . . .

Dean of Libraries at the University of Tennessee since 2000, Dewey garnered significant experience at several Big Ten universities. Previously, she served at the University of Iowa from 1987 to 2000 as assistant to the dean of libraries, director of administrative and access services, director of information and research services and interim university librarian, respectively. Prior to that she also was Indiana University's director of admissions and placement in the School of Library and Information Science from 1980 to 1987, and assistant interlibrary loan and reference librarian at Northwestern University from 1978 to 1980. She began her library science career with the Minnesota Valley Regional Library System.

Dewey received her master's degree in library science and her undergraduate degree in anthropology/sociology, both from the University of Minnesota. She also received a Graduate Public Management Certificate from Indiana University's School of Public and Environmental Affairs.

A member of the Association of Research Libraries board of directors from 2006 to 2009, Dewey continues service as chair of its Transforming Research Libraries Steering Committee and the Association of College and Research Libraries Publications Committee. She is in her final year of a six-year term on the Online Computer Library Center Global Council and is a member of the International Federation of Library Associations Standing Committee on Education and Training. She has published and presented on a wide range of research library topics including digital libraries, diversity, technology, user education, fundraising, organizational development and human resources.

Paula T. Kaufman, Juanita J. and Robert E. Simpson Dean of Libraries and University Librarian at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, has won the 2010 Hugh C. Atkinson Memorial Award, which is sponsored by ACRL, ALCTS, LLAMA, and LITA.

Here's an excerpt from the press release:

Named in honor of one of the pioneers of library automation, the Atkinson Award recognizes an academic librarian who has made significant contributions in the area of library automation or management and has made notable improvements in library services or research. . . .

Kaufman has held a variety of positions over the course of her career. In addition to serving as head of the Business and Economics Library and director of the Library Services group at Columbia University, she was acting head of the East Asian Library in 1982 and acting vice-president for information technology and university librarian from 1987-88. During her tenure at Columbia, Kaufman was involved in the development of the university's Scholarly Information Center, a merger of the library and academic information technology. In 1987, Kaufman resisted the FBI's request to report on the reading habits of Columbia library patrons with last names or accents from "hostile countries." Her actions were instrumental in making the FBI's Library Awareness Program public. Kaufman additionally served as dean of libraries at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville from 1988-99.

In her current position at UIUC, Kaufman has worked with the library faculty and staff to re-envision the future, form new alliances and cultivate an environment of creative problem solving. Under her direction, the library launched a highly successful capital campaign, established a formal preservation and conservation program, led the state of Illinois in digitizing collections, celebrated the library's 11 millionth volume and addressed the issues of how to support scholarship and teaching in the digital age through developing new models to deliver 21st-century services. In 2006, the provost of the University of Illinois tapped Kaufman to serve as the university's interim chief information officer. In this assignment, she increased communication among technology staff and reconnected the information technology department with the rest of the campus through focusing on its service mission.

She has additionally played key roles in governance and policymaking at a number of organizations, including serving on or leading the boards of directors of the Center for Research Libraries, the Association of Research Libraries, the Council of Library and Information Resources, the Committee on Institutional Cooperation, the Digital Library Federation and the Society for Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition.

Kaufman received her AB in Economics from Smith College, MBA from the University of New Haven and MS in Library Service from the School of Library Service at Columbia University.

The Library of Congress has established procedures to release open source software.

Here's an excerpt from the press release:

"The overall effect will be to clarify and streamline the process for releasing software as open source," said Michelle Springer, a digital initiatives project manager at the Library, "allowing the Library and its partners to more fully participate in the open source development community."

The Library has been especially active in developing tools that support digital preservation processes, including the secure transfer of digital files. This includes the release of a full suite of digital content transfer tools that support the Bagit specification.

These tools marked the first release of Library-authored open source software to a public repository. The tools were first registered on SourceForge in December 2008 and are available at http://sourceforge.net/projects/loc-xferutils/. While Sourceforge was the first external repository to host Library code, other repositories may be used in the future.

Source code originating from the Library may only be distributed as open source if developed by Library staff or under a contract granting the Library the necessary distribution rights. Additionally, the code cannot be based or dependent on any proprietary software and must be releasable without restrictions or cost.

Works created by Library of Congress staff will be designated in the code comments as a work within the public domain. The addition of the public domain notation in the code comments serves the function of letting developers know that section of the code is free for reuse even if the Library's code is incorporated into a software project with a more restrictive license.

Not all software repositories offer the option of a public domain designation. Under those circumstances the Library will apply the most permissive license possible. BSD-style licenses are being used by multiple National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program partners.