Who Bears the Responsibility for IR Planning, Pilot Testing, and Implementation?
At PPT and IMP institutions, librarians take the lead in IR pilot testing and system implementation (Table 2.4), assume most of the responsibility for the IR effort (Figure 2.6), and are members of various IR committees (Figure 2.5). Funding almost always comes from the library (Table 3.1). A typical approach to funding the IR is to absorb its cost in routine library operating costs. At NP institutions where no IR effort is under way, the library director takes the lead, consulting with the provost, chief information officer, faculty, and archivist about funding, technical expertise, potential contributors and users, and digital collections (Tables 2.4 and 2.5). IR committee membership becomes increasingly less inclusive as the IR project progresses from pilot testing to implementation, leaving the library “holding the bag” (Figure 2.5).
