OTTAWA, September 10, 2015 – The Canadian Association of Research Libraries announces the release of the 8Rs Redux, CARL Libraries Human Resources Study.
The original 8Rs Canadian Library Human Resources Study conducted in 2003-2004 arose in response to a growing perception in the community that libraries would be facing mass retirements within the next decade. The 8Rs Redux, CARL Libraries Human Resources Study conducted by Kathleen DeLong (University of Alberta), Marianne Sorensen (Tandem Social Research Consulting) and Vicki Williamson (University of Saskatchewan) provides a review of the many ways in which CARL libraries and their staffing requirements have changed, as well as how they have responded to those changes.
“We are pleased to share the results from this study,” stated Susan Haigh, Executive Director. “There has never been such a comprehensive set of data on human resources in Canadian academic libraries for our members to mine, and to be able to compare the two sets of findings, ten years apart, reveals an important story how Canadian academic libraries are adapting to meet changing needs.”
The report presents a comprehensive overview of 26 CARL libraries and represents comparisons over time since the first report a decade ago. The 8Rs Redux looks at a multitude of factors such as the 2008 recession, retirements, new information technology, scholarly communication and publishing changes.
Vicki Williamson, Chair of the CARL Research Libraries Committee noted “the original 8Rs study brought focus to CARL’s work in coordinating and leading efforts to build the CARL library workforce. The updated workforce data in the 2015 study gives CARL a longitudinal base and strong evidence on which to design and implement national workforce strategies and programs going forward”.
The full report can be found on the CARL website at https://www.carl-abrc.ca/strengthening-capacity/human-resource-management/canadian-library-human-resources-study/.
CARL members include Canada’s twenty-nine largest university libraries as well as two national libraries. Enhancing research and higher education are at the heart of its mission. CARL develops the capacity to support this mission, promotes effective and sustainable scholarly communication, and public policy that enables broad access to scholarly information.
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For more information:
Katherine McColgan
Manager, Administration and Programs
613.482.9344 ext. 102
