ACRL's Effective Practices Clearinghouse accepting submissions
Contact: Gordon J. Aamot
For Immediate Release
December 19, 2002
ACRL's Effective Practices Clearinghouse accepting submissions
How many times have you thought to yourself, "Someone else in another library MUST have already figured out a better way to do this"? The Association of College & Research Libraries' (ACRL) Effective Practices Committee has developed a Web-based clearinghouse for effective practices in academic libraries. The Effective Practices Web site can be found at http://www.ala.org/acrl/ep. The scope of the clearinghouse will span all areas of library programs, services, facilities, technology and initiatives.
So, what makes a practice an
effective practice?
- Effective practices are aligned with the library's and parent organization's mission
- Effective practices have outcomes that are measurable
- Effective practices are sustainable and cost-effective and have a long-term impact on the library and its constituents
- Effective practices have some degree of transferability and contain components that are potentially useful within other contexts either within the institution or at other institutions
- Effective practices can be articulated in terms of responding to the needs of academic libraries and their constituencies
Librarians may submit their effective practices at
http://www.ala.org/acrl/ep/contribute.html. Practices are then reviewed to see if they meet the criteria listed above. Once accepted, ACRL will post the practice on the Web site and send the submitting library a letter acknowledging its contribution to the Effective Practices clearinghouse.
The committee's goal is to be inclusive rather than exclusive. Librarians looking for ideas to improve specific practices in their own libraries or just shopping for good ideas will be able to browse by category and (eventually) search by keyword.
ACRL, a division of the American Library Association, is the only individual membership organization in North America that develops programs, products, and services to meet the unique needs of academic librarians. ACRL is dedicated to enhancing the ability of academic library and information professionals to serve the information needs of the higher education community and to improve learning, teaching and research.
