Academic libraries have come a long way since their early days. The days when the students and faculty who made up the university were of little consequence have gone. For many decades, the future of the university library has been closely connected with their associated students and faculty. University libraries across the world have strived to become hubs of research and socialization for their academic patrons, and for generations of students they have been. However, 21st century students have something previous generation did not have; a surge of rapidly changing technology which shapes and defines their social, personal, and academic lives. This emergence of fast paced and convenient technology has created a rift between many academic libraries and their patrons. Two papers by the OCLC membership and the New York University Libraries in conjunction with Katzenbach Partners LLC (KPL) have undergone the task of reporting how college students in the 21st century view their libraries and what they want in the library of the future.
A report prepared by New York University Libraries entitled NYU 21st Century Project: Designing a research library of the future for New York University was conducted by the Elmer Holmes Bobst Library using faculty and graduate student focus groups. The initial reason for the study was to determine how the library could improve their environment (both physically and intellectually) and improve services in the era of readily available access to research resources.
Through extensive literature review and focus groups consisting of faculty and graduate students selected with the assistance of university deans, the library was able to select several factors which would help support and nurture scholar...
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...he academic library community. Their role as leaders rely heavily on if they can implement the changes noted in their report and if they can continue to be a significant part of university life. While researching and acknowledging ways to efficiently service and enhance scholarship among their students and faculty is an admirable first step in meeting their goals, it is the long term implication of the research provided and the continual presence in the life of the university throughout the life of the library which will determine their role as leaders.
Works Cited
De Rosa, C. (2006). College students' perceptions of libraries and information resources: A report to the OCLC membership. Dublin, OH.
Marcus, C., Covert-Vail, L., & Mandel, C. A. (2007). NYU 21st century library project: Designing a research library of the futrue for New York University.
Sheih, C. S. (2009). A Qualitative Study of the Types and Characteristics of Difficult Patrons in University Libraries. Journal of Library and Information Science Research, 4(1), 99-132. ISSN 1990-9128
Shoaf, E. C. (2003). Using a professional moderator in library focus group research. Colleges & Research Libraries, 64 (2), 124-132.
Impact of Digitizing Books? Ed. Louise I. Gerdes. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2013. At Issue. Rpt. from "In the 21st-Century University, Let's Ban (Paper) Books." Chronicle of Higher Education 13 Nov. 2011. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 18 Feb. 2014.
Public Librarians’ Attitudes Regarding Acquisition and Access. Judaica Librarianship [serial online]. July 2014; 18:54-87. Available from: Academic Search Complete, Ipswich, MA. Accessed February 4, 2015.
We live in an information society where the development of information and communication technologies accompanied by a corresponding increase in knowledge with a rapidly growing flow of information. In this new information environment, library professionals require new skills in seeking, processing and disseminating information.
Though many of the people around us enjoy the luxury of having access to libraries and books everyday, that is not the case for the vast majority of people around the world.
I attended the in class lecture on October 18 over Texas A&M’s library resources and services. The lecture was presented by Daniel Xiao and reviewed the many applications of the university libraries.
A library or information unit must have a dedicated plan on having an organized Collection Development Policy, represents the guideposts of all types of library institutions. Collection development is the process of planning, selecting, acquiring and evaluating the library collections’ convenience to print and electronic collection developments. Thus, it is essential to have a written collection development policy, a statement of general collection building principles with desalinating the purpose and content of a collection in terms of relevance and internal audiences (Clayton and Gorman 2007). Broadly, the international and local libraries have sketched written collection development policies which they are aware of its uses. Recently, the written policies consistently renewed with the rise of digital collections. However, the value of the written collection development plan shakes with the complexity of managing electronic resources, funding and time considerations, criticism on how it written and also its inflexibility. This essay will examine the arguments for having the advantages of the written collection development policy (CDP) and the issues evolve which against the latter.
...of Library and Information Sciences, Third Edition (pp. 1507–1517). Taylor & Francis. Retrieved from http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1081/E-ELIS3-120043240
While the digital era emerged in the 1980’s, the practice of digitization has been around since the late 1990’s. Four North American institutions – The Smithsonian Institution, The Library Company of Philadelphia, Digital Public Library of America, & The Library of Congress – elected to develop their mission around the accessibility of their collections to all, by any means possible (Feigel, 2015, p. 5). As digital technology becomes more ubiquitous, museums need to incorporate the trend of digitization in order to sustain the interest of their
Zabel, D. (2008). Reference desk dilemmas: The impact of new demands on librarianship. Reference & User Services Quarterly, 48 (1), 20-25.
Despite the origins of metadata it has become common in the majority of academic libraries to apply metadata practices while cataloging electronic and digital resources. A study conducted by Laurie Lopatin on the metadata behaviors of academic and non-academic libraries showed that a 38% majority of academic libraries have been using metadata as part of their daily workflow for five to eight years while some academic libraries have been participating in metadata practices for as long as seventeen to twenty years.
In the effort to fulfill their mission of disseminating information, librarians face a variety of challenges. Some of these challenges pertain to collection development, technical services, cataloging backlogs, and the handling of new technologies. Other challenges are related to legal issues and intellectual freedom, such as material objections and Internet access. Library management has dealt with these challenges for years by updating the technology, increasing the staff, and educating employees and customers. Effective communication poses a different and important challenge to librarians, especially to reference librarians.The communication between reference librarians and library customers is difficult to a point that librarians need to use special communication tools to be able to deliver the best service. The United States is one of the countries where librarians, in general, and academic librarians, in particular, are more prone to deal with multicultural customers. This can make their job even more difficult. Does the communication in multicultural environments create a real problem for libraries? Does the library management need to intervene in order to solve these problems? Alternatively, should management leave this issue to the individual librarians to educate themselves and overcome this challenge?
“Active members of this profession, in whatever arena, show that they have the commitment and the enthusiasm to lead libraries of the future” (Gordon, 2004, p. 52). “If you want to develop as a leader, participating in a committee is a good starting place” (Kern, p. 7). “A lot of leadership development happens through active participation on committees...” (p. 6). “We learn through our experiences. Being on a committee or chairing a committee only gets you so far as a leader” (p. 7). “Observation and reflection are one way to improve your own leadership skills” (p. 6). “Demonstrating love and respect for the cause is also an essential component of leadership. It conveys a sense of personal wholeness and adherence to standards of equity, justice, and truth” (McCombs, p. 219). In order for any changes to take place in an organization, there must be those who interact instead of react. In leadership, that can mean being on various committees, boards, and participate in associations. It takes a great leader to accomplish much. It takes even greater dedication to have success. Being focused, exercising power, showing initiative, and being persistent is only the beginning of leadership. You have to be open-minded, seek services, find simple solutions to benefit all, connect to the community, and develop partnerships that can expand the services of the organization. Being a leader is being a role model for those who are seeking to advance in this profession. Emphasizing teamwork and encouraging change can be enlighten through committees and associations geared towards improving the profession to be able to withstand a changing society; specially a society that it steadily moving to the technology fast-paced field. Being involved and beco...
... to the Library and that have generally been underused resources. B. Greater use of the Library's Capitol Hill facilities by scholars for the kind of interdisciplinary, cross-cultural, multimedia, multilingual, and synthetic writing that is important to Congressional deliberation and national policy-making, but inadequately encouraged both by special interest groups and by advocacy-oriented think tanks; and C. Greater use by the general public through programs that stimulate interest, increase knowledge, and encourage more citizens to use the collections on-site and electronically.”The Library employees will add their position as information guides by “helping more people find appropriate materials in a swelling sea of unsorted information” and directing them to services and resources exclusive to the Library of Congress. This requires not only more growth of employees that the Library has formerly had, but also making it easier in new ways more wide-ranging and “systematic use by researchers of the distinctive materials that only the Library of Congress has.” Courses for the common public, such as displays or publications, must display the importance and value of the collections.