Reflections on Research Library Advocacy: Lessons Learned through Collaboration with Cliff Lynch

abstract: Research libraries advocate for a complex set of federal policy issues that are rarely just about libraries. Our core issues—ensuring a balanced copyright regime, access to and accessibility of information, and privacy—are shared with civil society, technology companies, scholarly and professional societies, higher education, and research communities. Two key lessons I have learned in the five years I have led the public policy team at the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) include (1) the importance of consulting with and maintaining relationships with experts in science and technology, and (2) the necessity of understanding the impact of public policies on research institutions. Cliff Lynch has been an explainer, a partner in understanding complexity, a connector to experts, and an expert in his own right. The Coalition for Networked Information (CNI) community and the programming he has led consistently provide a wealth of stories and ground truth for how policy priorities can, should, and do impact the research enterprise.