Kits contain practical management information on how libraries deal with today's challenges.
Changing Roles of Library Professionals SPEC Kit 256, May 2000 by Janice Simmons-Welburn, University of Iowa Over the past ten years, many changes have affected the roles of librarians and other professionals in research libraries. The changes have been caused, in part, by technological advances, reorganizations, more focus on libraries as learning organizations, the use of teams and team-based approaches to tasks, and a recognition of diversity's importance to organizational development. Librarians have had to align priorities with redefined institutional goals. The survey for this SPEC Kit, conducted by the ARL Leadership Committee, was an effort to examine these professional changes through an analysis of position descriptions issued by ARL member institutions. The M.L.S. Hiring Requirement SPEC Kit 257, June 2000 by Julia C. Blixrud, ARL Traditionally, academic research libraries have been expected to require the M.L.S. for any professional position.