Library issues on senate’s agenda

by Sarah R. Buchholz, Chronicle staff

he Faculty Senate will hear a presentation on the changes in scholarly communication, their financial impact on the Libraries, and strategies for addressing that impact at its March 29 meeting.

     Libraries director Margo Crist, coordinator of Collection Development Jay Schafer and Bob Rothstein, chair of the senate's Research Library Council, will make the presentation and answer questions. The group made a similar presentation to the senate's Research Council March 2.

     Peter Monson, chair of the Research Council, said the presentation raises a number of issues that are important to the faculty.

     "Having a first-rate library is a central part of having a university with a high degree of research and scholarship," Monson said.

     "Margo will give an update on what's happening in scholarly communication, the process by which faculty publish and that libraries participate in," Schafer said. "We'll talk specifically on what we're doing at UMass Amherst to be as cost-efficient as possible and still supply the information needs of faculty and students. This has a lot of impact for faculty and scholars in general."