Recommendations for the
2008-2009 New York State Budget
Priorities
The New York State Higher Education Initiative is committed to the development of an information infrastructure that will support higher education, research, economic and workforce development in New York State.
Our legislative priorities reflect our efforts to maximize and utilize the vast resources of the states public and private academic and research libraries to benefit our institutions and our communities.
Mission
The NYSHEI mission is to provide the broadest possible access to information; support learning, teaching and research; and, to advance industry and academic partnerships in support of the innovation economy.
Academic Research Information Access (ARIA)
» $15 million
ARIA is a model for public and private partnership that utilizes resources and leverages the enormous investments of the State’s academic and research libraries, to achieve a robust, nation-leading information infrastructure for the benefit of researchers, students, businesses and entrepreneurs.
ARIA calls for a $15 million state appropriation, which will be met by an approximate $45 million value contribution by the state’s academic library community. This investment will provide statewide access to the most current, influential and respected research in all fields, with a particular emphasis on science, technology and medical disciplines. Through ARIA these digital resources will be shared among the scholars and researchers, small businesses, entrepreneurs and other individuals affiliated with the State University of New York, the City University of New York, the New York State Library, the New York Public Library, independent colleges and universities in New York,
Under ARIA, New York would be home to the most comprehensive information infrastructure that will support the state’s educational and economic needs well into the twenty-first century.
New York Statewide Internet Library
» $9.25 million
NOVELNY, a pilot project currently funded by a non-recurring federal grant, is a useful electronic portal for accessing basic library collections of the state library.
An appropriation of $9.25 million will allow NOVELNY to continue beyond the length of the grant so that it may continue to provide library services to a broad swath of the state population, including many undergraduate students. Importantly, state support will establish NOVELNY as a reliable and effective mechanism to deliver access to the vast high-end research collections that would be available through ARIA.
Coordinated Collection Development
» $4 million
Under the Coordinated Collection Development (CCD) program (Education Law 273 (5) Aid for Academic Libraries), New York State makes funds available to individual academic libraries. This amounted to $2 million in FY 2007-2008.
While this support is appreciated, it commonly amounts to only few thousand dollars per library, and comprises a small portion of the more than half a billion dollars academic libraries spend annually. The funding provided under CCD is commonly wholly absorbed as a small portion of inflationary costs.
NYSHEI maintains that ARIA provides a more cost-effective model for bolstering library resources, however, until enacted, doubling CCD to $4 million would provide many academic libraries the opportunity to offset some of the rising costs of print and electronic resources.