Council on Library and Information Resources 

Core Functions of the Research Library in the 21st Century
February 27, 2008

http://www.clir.org/activities/registration/08r21.html

"The information landscape of early twenty-first century higher education is characterized by ubiquitous, digitized, indexed online access to content. Researchers and students begin and often end their quest for information online. Results of research can be and increasingly are published without publishers. Access to these results, and to the cultural and scientific record that constitutes the primary resource base for research and teaching, is narrowed by the increasingly exclusive use of licensing in lieu of selling. What are the critical functions of the research library in this changing landscape?

To address this question, CLIR commissioned 8 essays as background for discussion at a meeting held in Washington DC on February 27. They are available here in PDF format."