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The article provides an overview of the methods, results, and the recommendations of an eight-member Information Services Task Force (ISTF) formed by the Public Services Division of Northwestern University (NU) Library, Evanston, Illinois, to review the division's service delivery model. Topics discussed include SPEC Kit 327, Reconfiguring Service Delivery guide published by the Association of Research Libraries in 2011, and two surveys of peer institutions and internal community by ISTF.

The article focuses on the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC), which was created by the Association of Research Libraries in 1998, to serve as a catalyst for action and to reduce barriers to the access and the use of information. SPARC's mission is to correct imbalances in the scholarly publishing system and the belief that these imbalances inhibit the advancement of scholarship and are at odds with fundamental needs of scholars and the academic enterprise. The SPARC has three program areas, which includes educating stakeholder on scholarly communication, advocating policy changes, and incubating market-based initiatives.