From: Coalition for Networked Information
Information Policies:  A Compilation of Position Statements, Principles,
Statutes, and Other Pertinent Statements


Association of Research Libraries
21 Dupont Circle, N.W.
Suite 800
Washington, DC  20036
  202-296-2296

Mission Statement

Source:

Association of Research Libraries Release, Strategy for the 1990s 
(i.e. the formal strategic plan document which embodies the mission 
statement), Washington, DC, September 1990

The Association of Research Libraries is an organization of 119 major research libraries in the United States and Canada. The mission of ARL is to identify and influence forces affecting the future of research libraries in the process of scholarly communication. ARL programs and services promote equitable access to, and effective use of recorded knowledge in support of teaching, research, scholarship, and community service. The Association articulates the concerns of research libraries and their institutions, forges coalitions for cooperative action, influences information policy development, and supports innovation and improvement in research library programs.

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Principles on Government Information in Electronic Format

(Adopted by ARL membership in 1988)

Source:

Association of Research Libraries Release, 
Washington, DC, November 15, 1990

• The open exchange of public information should be protected.
• Federal policy should support the integrity and preservation of government electronic databases.
• Copyright should not be applied to U.S. government information.
• Diversity of sources of access to U.S. government information is in the public interest and entrepreneurship should be encouraged.
• Government information should be available at low cost.
• A system to provide equitable, no-fee access to basic public information is a requirement of a democratic society.

In accordance with these principles, ARL opposes actions by federal agencies, including national libraries, that have the effect of creating impediments to, or placing inappropriate restrictions on, government- produced databases or other information developed at taxpayer expense. Licensing and copyrighting of information and services will undermine the essential principle of open access to and exchange of records. In addition, ARL reasserts that government information is a public asset to be made widely available to all users. It is not a commodity that is to be sold for profit by the United States government.

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info@cni.org