-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Mellon Foundation Funds Scholarly Communication Institute
Date: Fri, 12 Apr 2002 19:28:54 +0100
From: Stevan Harnad <harnad@COGPRINTS.SOTON.AC.UK>

NEWS RELEASE http://www.clir.org/pubs/press/2002_mellsci.html

For Immediate Release: April 11, 2002

Contact: Deanna Marcum 202-939-4750 or Richard Lucier 603-646-2236
Mellon Foundation Funds Scholarly Communication Institute

WASHINGTON, D.C. The Council on Library and Information Resources will
join with Dartmouth College Library to develop a Scholarly
Communication Institute with a new grant from The Andrew W. Mellon
Foundation.

Digital technology is changing the traditional process of scholarly
communication the process by which scholarly information is created,
distributed, stored, and preserved. Scholars, libraries, and commercial
and nonprofit organizations have undertaken numerous experiments to
explore the potential of digital technology for creating richer
materials or better access for teaching and research, or for helping
libraries alleviate space or resource constraints. We know little about
whether many of these experiments can become sustainable, and we know
less about how systemic change will occur over time.

The Scholarly Communication Institute will bring together pioneers and
innovators in scholarly communication for a one-week residential
experience that will allow them to discuss, plan, and organize
institutional and discipline-based strategies for advancing innovation
in scholarly communication. The institute will foster this cadre of
leaders as mentors to the next generation of individuals who will work
at the forefront of the transformation of scholarly communication in a
digital environment. At least three annual institutes will be held, all
on the Dartmouth campus in Hanover, New Hampshire. The first is
scheduled for the summer of 2003.

"We are grateful to the Mellon Foundation for supporting the
development of this institute, which will provide a rare gift of time
for leaders in the field to join their peers in deep thinking and
discussion about visions and strategies for the future," said CLIR
President Deanna Marcum. "We are very pleased to be cooperating with
Dartmouth on this project."

"We have learned a great deal from the experiments to date. We look
forward to giving those who have led these experiments a chance to
consider what must be done next for the academy to benefit fully from
the tremendous potential of digital libraries," said Dartmouth
Librarian Richard Lucier.

The institute will be limited to 20 individuals annually from the
scholarly, library, publishing, and technology communities. Individuals
must be nominated by their institutions or by peers from other
institutions who recognize their work. The nominator must submit
evidence of the pioneering qualities of the work accomplished by the
nominees. Detailed application information will appear on CLIR's Web
site in July.

The Council on Library and Information Resources is an independent,
nonprofit organization that works to expand access to information,
however recorded and preserved, as a public good. In partnership with
other organizations, CLIR helps create services that expand the concept
of "library" and supports the providers and preservers of information.

Chartered in 1769, Dartmouth College is a private, liberal arts
institution in Hanover, New Hampshire. It is an undergraduate
residential college that also offers numerous graduate and professional
programs.  Dartmouth has long been a leader in the application of
digital technology to scholarship and learning.