News from the Field C&RL News June 2016 270 N e w s f r o m t h e F i e l dDavid Free Georgetown University Archives celebrates 200th anniversary The Georgetown University Library is celebrating the 200th anniversary of the Georgetown University Archives. The Ar- chives serves as the institutional memory of Georgetown University. As such, it acquires, preserves, and makes available records of enduring value that document university activities, func- tions, decisions, policies, and pro- grams. G e o r g e t o w n established its ar- chives in 1816, be- ing one of the first American colleges to do so. Because of this longevity, the Archives has an unusually rich collection, hous- ing material from before the univer- sity’s founding in 1789 to the present. In late April, the library hosted a special event to mark the occasion. University Librarian Artemis G. Kirk was joined by Georgetown President John J. DeGioia, 10th Archivist of the United States David S. Ferriero, and Georgetown University Archivist Lynn Conway, who provided remarks on the importance of the history preserved in the Georgetown University Archives. ACRL sets 2016 Legislative Agenda Each year, the ACRL Government Relations Committee, in consultation with the ACRL Board of Directors and staff, formulates an ACRL Legislative Agenda. Drafted with input from key ACRL committees, ACRL leaders, and the ALA Washington Office, the ACRL Legislative Agenda is prioritized and focuses on issues at the national level affecting the welfare of academic and research libraries. The 2016 ACRL Legislative Agenda focuses on two issues that the U.S. Congress has recently taken, or will most likely take, ac- tion on in the year ahead: access to federally funded research and curbing government surveillance. The agenda also includes a watch list of policy issues of great concern to aca- demic librarians. L e g i s l a t i o n o n these issues is not likely to arise and, moreover, ACRL does not believe that any legislation about these issues is necessary. Is- sues on the watch list are: net neu- trality, copyright reform, fair use, “making available” right, preservation and reproduction exceptions, orphan works, and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. ACRL will con- tinue tracking these issues and advocate for the best interests of academic and research libraries, if necessary. The complete legisla- tive agenda is available at www.ala.org/acrl /issues/washingtonwatch/legagenda. NILOA releases Higher Education Quality statement The National Institute for Learning Out- comes Assessment (NILOA) recently re- leased a new policy statement, “Higher Edu- cation Quality: Why Documenting Student Learning Matters.” The NILOA statement outlines the warrant for multiple, systematic approaches to obtain evidence of authentic student achievement and addresses some well-reasoned concerns that poorly de- signed assessment efforts can distract from, Tenth Archivist of the United States David S. Ferriero de- livering remarks at the Georgetown University Archives 200th anniversary celebration. June 2016 271 C&RL News ACRL report shows compelling evidence of library contributions to student learning and success A new report issued by ACRL, “Documented Library Contributions to Student Learning and Success: Building Evidence with Team-Based Assessment in Action Campus Projects,” shows compelling evidence for library contributions to student learning and success. The report fo- cuses on dozens of projects conducted as part of the program Assessment in Action: Academic Libraries and Student Suc- cess (AiA) by teams that participated in the second year of the program, from April 2014 to June 2015. Synthesizing more than 60 individual project reports (fully searchable online) and using past findings from projects completed during the first year of the AiA program as con- text, the report identifi es strong evidence of the positive contributions of academic libraries to stu- dent learning and success in four key areas. 1. Students benefi t from library instruc- tion in their initial coursework. Information literacy initiatives for freshmen and new students underscore that students receiv- ing this instruction perform better in their courses than students who do not. 2. Library use increases student success. Students who use the library in some way (e.g., circulation, library instruction session attendance, online databases access, study room use, interlibrary loan) achieve higher levels of academic success (e.g., GPA, course grades, retention) than students who did not use the library. 3. Collaborative academic programs and services involving the library enhance student learning. Academic library part- nerships with other campus units, such as the writing center, academic enrichment, and speech lab, yield positive benefi ts for students (e.g., higher grades, academic confi dence, and retention). 4. Information literacy instruction strengthens general education outcomes. Libraries improve their institution’s general education outcomes and demonstrate that information literacy con- tributes to inquiry-based and problem-solving learning, including crit- ical thinking, ethical reasoning, global un- derstanding, and civic engagement. The three-year AiA p r o g r a m i s h e l p i n g more than 200 postsec- ondary institutions of all types create partner- ships at their institu- tion to promote library leadership and engage- ment in campus-wide assessment. Each participating institution estab- lishes a team with a lead librarian and at least two colleagues from other campus units. Team members frequently include teaching faculty and administrators from such departments as the assessment offi ce, institutional research, the writing center, academic technology, and student affairs. Over a 14-month period, the librarians lead their campus teams in the development and implementation of a project that aims to contribute to assessment activities at their institution. The full “Documented Library Contribu- tions to Student Learning and Success” report is available on the ACRL website at www. ala.org/acrl/fi les/issues/value/contributions _y2.pdf. C&RL News June 2016 272 RBM: A Journal of Rare Books, Manuscripts, and Cultural Heritage becomes open access ACRL announces that its special collections and cultural heritage-focused journal RBM: A Journal of Rare Books, Manuscripts, and Cultural Heritage will become an open ac- cess publication beginning with the Spring 2016 issue. This change in access policy lifts the on- line version of the publication’s current year embargo on new content and makes the complete contents of the journal from 2000 to the present, along with complete contents of its predecessor Rare Books & Manu- scripts Li- b ra r i a n - ship, freely a v a i l a b l e t h r o u g h the publication website at http://rbm.acrl.org. “I am very pleased that ACRL has en- dorsed open access to the online version of RBM while remaining committed to the print version of the journal,” said RBM Editor Jennifer K. Sheehan of The Grolier Club. “I encourage members of the rare books and cultural heritage community to continue supporting the print journal by subscribing, either as an institution or individually.” The ACRL Board of Directors approved the new policy at its 2016 Spring Executive Session in April 2016. In its resolution, the Board cited the association’s support for open scholarship and access to scholarly work as the driving force behind the change. The move also aligns RBM’s access policies with ACRL’s general research journal College & Research Libraries, which became an open access journal in 2011. RBM will continue to publish in print for subscribers. “The ACRL Board of Directors, RBM Editor ial Board, and the staf f o f AC R L have lis- tened to our members’ desire to extend our commitment to open access and promotion of wide dissemination of scholarship,” noted ACRL President Ann Campion Riley of the University of Missouri. “The move of RBM to an open access model completes the transi- tion to providing open online content for our serials publishing program.” Open access to current RBM content began with the Spring 2016 issue. RBM is available online at http://rbm.acrl.org. rather than enhance, the quality of teach- ing and learning. Recognizing that much remains to be done, a succinct summary is offered of what the assessment movement has achieved thus far, drawing on NILOA’s work in the fi eld over the past decade along with that of other organizations. The statement concludes with fi ve princi- ples that when adapted appropriately to an in- stitution’s educational purposes and programs can spread and accelerate assessment work worthy of the promises colleges and universi- ties make to their students, policy makers, and the public. The NILOA project is a collabora- tive effort between the University of Illinois and Indiana University, with support from Lumina Foundation for Education and the University of Illinois. The statement is avail- able at www.learningoutcomesassessment. org/NILOA_statement.html. Springer launches must read articles initiative Springer recently launched a new online ini- tiative called Change the World, One Article at a Time: Must-Read Articles from 2015. The initiative focuses on articles published in 2015 in Springer journals that deal with some of the world’s most urgent challeng- es, especially in the fi elds of energy, food, water, climate, social equality, and health. Those articles which are already open access June 2016 273 C&RL News are freely available online on a permanent basis and all other arti- cles have been made freely avail- able until July 15, 2016. Springer editors-in-chief were asked to nominate one article from their journal that addresses today’s most compelling global issues— findings that could help humanity and protect the planet. The col- lection now consists of more than 100 cutting-edge articles, which can inspire researchers and their work. The articles can be found at www.springer.com/gp/marketing /change-the-world. EBSCO adds five Time Inc. titles to digital archives Digital magazine archives from EBSCO Information Services (EBSCO) are now available for five renowned Time Inc. brands. These include the complete, ex- tensive and searchable digital ver- sions of the Fortune, Life, People, Sports Illustrated, and Time Maga- zine archives. Time Inc. content provides researchers access to information about 20th-century history, politics and cul- ture, as well as the history of business, ad- vertising, sports, and leisure. Each digital archive includes full indexing of all articles and advertisements, making it easy to search using the EBSCOhost and EBSCO Discovery Service interfaces. The Time Inc. brands are the latest addi- tions to the EBSCO archives. Other archives currently available include Architectural Digest, Forbes, Bloomberg Businessweek, the National Review, the New Republic, New Sci- entist, and The Nation. For more information, visit www.ebscohost.com/archive. ProQuest MyiLibrary adds Simon & Schuster titles Key titles from publisher Simon & Schuster are now available for the first time to the ac- Tech Bits . . . Brought to you by the ACRL ULS Tech- nology in University Libraries Commit- tee Have you found the perfect picture for a pre- sentation only to find that it’s under copyright and covered in a watermark? Do you want to teach students how to use Creative Commons materials, but find their eyes glazing over as you explain where the filters are hiding? Fortunately, search.creativecommons.org exists to help you find media without agonizing over usage rights. Simply type your terms in the search box, choose how you want to use it, and then click the site you want to search. It will automatically filter your results to the licenses that fit your needs. It also serves as a nifty way to direct students to pictures and music they can use without fear of takedown notices. —Emily Thompson University of Tennessee-Chattanooga . . . Creative Commons Search search.creativecommons.org ademic library market as ebooks through ProQuest’s MyiLibrary platform. More than 1,200 titles in subject areas such as business, psychology, history, social sci- ences, political sciences, and literature will provide libraries with more options to serve students, faculty, and researchers. Additionally, Simon & Schuster is offering key classic academic and literary works to MyiLibrary customers, including Stephen Mitchell’s translations of Homer’s The Il- iad and The Odyssey, and works by Ray Bradbury, Émile Durkheim, Joseph Heller, John Knowles, B. F. Skinner, Max Weber, and William Butler Yeats, among others. Titles will also be available from Simon & Schuster’s Folger Shakespeare Library, Hemingway Library, and F. Scott Fitzger- ald Library.