ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries C&RL News ■ February 2000 / 103 C o l l e g e & R e s e a r c h L i b r a r i e s The Keystone Principles An action plan for values-based librarianship Pream ble In Septem ber 1999, 80 academ ic library lead­ ers cam e together to engage in a series o f discussions and working sessions at the ARL/ OCLC Strategic Issues Forum for Academic Library D irectors in K ey ston e, C olorado. T h e se d iscussions created “T he K eystone Principles,” a set o f principles and action items to guide academ ic libraries’ efforts and es­ tablish a foundation for joint future-oriented action based on traditional academ ic library values. “The Keystone Principles” invoke and e x ­ press the urgency o f three areas requiring explicit action based on a vivid set o f user- cen tered principles. • A c c e s s to i n f o r m a ti o n as a p u b lic g o o d . Scholarly and government information is created at the exp en se o f public and/or academ ic institutions. Therefore, there is a public interest in the availability o f this infor­ mation. Yet som e com m ercial interests have disrupted availability through unreasonable pricing policies, restrictive licensing practices, and legislative assaults on the traditional Am erican copyright b a la n ce b etw een the rights o f the individual creator and the pub­ lic interest as em bodied in the concep t o f educational fair use. The right to read and know without cost is threatened. Further, in the online environment, com m ercial access services are distorting search results for profit without defining how these results are o b ­ tained and organized. Individuals are receiv­ ing biased information without any way to recognize or identify the source o f the bias. • N eed f o r b ia s-fre e s y ste m s a n d f o r li­ b ra rie s to c r e a te th e s e n e w sy ste m s. At the same time as the technological and econom ic e n v iro n m e n ts o f h ig h e r e d u c a tio n have changed, academic institutions are being forced to look for ways to create and disseminate know ledge in support o f the learning and research programs that are more affordable and sustainable over the long term. To date, these systems have b een created largely out­ side academ e and most certainly outside li­ braries, thus they exist without the benefit o f the expertise gained by librarians in how in­ formation is used and the academ ic and so ­ cietal values librarians bring to the enterprise. As new access and storage systems are de­ veloped, it is important that the know ledge and values that surround the traditional aca­ demic library be incorporated and systems b e d ev elop ed w hich restore affordability, provide access, and em body the values o f the educational community. • A ffirm th e id e a o f th e lib r a r y as a n e x u s f o r le a r n in g a n d th e s h a r in g o f k n o w led ge. In addition, institutions o f higher education are actively seeking ways to as­ sess and improve the quality o f learning and research programs. There is increasing pub­ lic demand for demonstrating value-added outcom es for the dollars invested. T ech nol­ ogy is seen as a potential enabler, but most campuses lack the human and fiscal resources to m ake radical changes and to provide the necessary infrastructure for large-scale pro­ grams. There is fear am ong the faculty and many administrators that education will be dehum anized by the introduction o f the new technologies in the learning program. A lead­ ership vacuum exists. The academ ic cachet o f the “library as heart o f the print univer­ sity” must b eco m e “the library as intellectual crossroad, the hub o f the knowledge network.” P rincip le One S ch o la rly a n d g o v e r n m e n t in fo r m a tio n is a ‘p u b lic g o o d ” a n d m ust b e a v a ila b le f r e e o f m a rk etin g bias, c o m m e r c ia l motives, a n d cost to th e in d iv id u a l user. 104 / C&RL News ■ February 2000 A ction item s: 1. Libraries will direct resources to m obi­ lize the academic community to adopt Prin­ ciple One and act in accordance with its spirit. 2. Libraries will direct resources and es­ tablish coalitions to create local, state, and national legislation consistent with Principle One. 3. Libraries will direct resources to create outlets for academic institutions, government agencies, and scholarly societies for their in­ formation products that operate by policies consistent with Principle One. 4. Libraries will support academic institu­ tions, government agencies, and scholarly so­ cieties that maintain outlets that operate co n ­ sistently with Principle One. 5. Libraries will make purchasing decisions and licensing agreements that em brace the concepts em bodied in Principle One. 6. Libraries will create only those software and hardware products that embody the co n ­ cepts espoused in Principle One. 7. Libraries will support aggressively col­ league institutions or colleagues in institu­ tions that challenge unfair licensing and copy­ right restrictions. 8. Libraries will direct resources to imple­ ment this principle by: a. establishing true collaborative re­ source development and programs; b. establishing buying consortia; and c. partnering with other libraries, pub­ lishers, societies, faculty groups, etc., to cre­ ate a more competitive information environ­ ment thereby reducing the cost o f com m er­ cial information. Principle Tw o L ibraries a r e respon sible f o r crea tin g in n o v a ­ tive in fo rm a tio n system s f o r the d issem in a tio n a n d p r e s e r v a t io n o f in fo r m a t io n a n d n ew k n o w led g e regardless o f fo r m a t . A ction item s: 1. Libraries will direct resources from tra­ ditional library budgets to create a digital pub­ lishing capability and new access systems. 2. Libraries will direct resources to create new access systems free o f bias and ulterior motive and based on customer information seeking patterns. 3. Libraries will partner with faculty, other libraries, and/or other entities to quickly iden­ tify, create, manage, and disseminate new digital content critical to learning and research programs o f their institutions. 4. Libraries will create interoperability in the systems they develop and create open source software for the access, dissemination, and management o f information. 5. Libraries will accept responsibility for campus “information” management as an e x ­ tension o f their traditional role. 6. Libraries will foster the development of systems that ensure long-term access to schol­ arly knowledge. 7. Libraries will develop new measures of quality and educate the campus, accrediting agencies, and profession to the need for these new measures. 8. Libraries will develop assessment tech­ niques and identify outcom e measures that help streamline and redirect resources for these activities. Principle Three The a c a d e m i c lib ra ry is th e in te llec tu a l c o m ­ m o n s f o r th e c o m m u n ity w h e r e p e o p le a n d id e a s in te r a c t in both th e r e a l a n d v irtu al e n ­ v iron m en ts to e x p a n d le a r n in g a n d f a c i l i t a t e th e c r e a tio n o f n ew k n o w led g e. A ction item s: 1. Libraries will direct librarian activities to establishing partnerships with faculty in the design o f the learning activities o f the institution. 2. Libraries will direct new and existing resources to create real and virtual environ­ ments to support research and learning ac­ tivities, e.g., electronic reserves, online co n ­ tent, access tools, etc. 3. Libraries will cre a te sp a ce s w h ere people and ideas can interact regardless of format or location. 4. Libraries will direct resources and cre­ ate partnerships that ensure 24/7 availability o f expertise in support o f student and faculty research needs. 5. Through their ow n efforts and in c o l­ laborative en d eavors, libraries will create new learning m aterials and W eb-based in­ stru ction al p a ck a g e s to te a ch users the skills n eed ed for su ccessfu l inform ation search es. 6. Libraries will create new measures that demonstrate the value-added contributions o f the library to the learning and research programs.