The changing face of libraries: an academic perspective

Transcription

1 The changing face of libraries: an academic perspective Maureen Wade Director of Library Services LSE 5 August 2009

2 Changing face of academic libraries Changing HE environment Shift from print to electronic information Changing expectations and behaviour of library users Pressure on budgets and space

3 Changing HE environment Government agenda on expansion of universities The student as customer improving the student experience Government pressure to produce and disseminate research linked to funding

4 Shift from print to electronic information E-journals well-established; e-books slower to take-off Libraries still managing print as well as e-resources More complex resource discovery and access issues Expectation of information in digital format

5 Use of e-journals RIN report: E-journals: their use, value and impact, April 2009 UK universities spent nearly 80 million on e-journals in 2006/07 Estimate of 102 million articles downloaded in one year Back-runs as well as current journals increasingly available On-campus and remote access

6 E-books Availability of large collections of e- books eg Oxford Scholarship Online Title-by-title acquisition of e-books for course reading Availability of e-book readers: Sony, Kindle Awaiting tipping point in usage of e- books

7 Resource discovery Library catalogues primarily designed for access to print books Library users want access to e-journals at article level Libraries need to integrate access to information in different formats Students and researchers expect Google-type search options

8 Access issues Universities moving to streamline access to e-resources single sign-on Reciprocal access between libraries for print collections for e-resources hampered by licensing conditions Moves by JISC, SCONUL and M25 Consortium to address this issue

9 Changing user expectations Most information should be available electronically Google-type search functionality and integration Variety of types of study space to suit different styles of working Libraries will collect and manage universities research outputs

10 Pressure on library budgets and space Hybrid libraries collecting print and electronic no longer affordable Extra costs of VAT on e-resources and higher-than-rpi inflation Pressure on space of continuing growth of print collections Pressure on space and budgets of expanding student numbers

11 How are academic libraries meeting these challenges? Shift from print to electronic information The Library as a place Financial pressures Managing universities research outputs

12 Print to electronic resource discovery Purchase of journal records to provide article-level searching Cataloguing of e-books alongside print Use of web 2.0 tools to highlight collections blogs, Delicious tags, Facebook presence Add-on interfaces to library catalogues to give Google-type searching and Amazon functionality

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14 Digitisation of print Collaboration with commercial providers eg Google / Oxford JISC 22m digitisation programme th century pamphlets online First World War poetry digital archive British Cartoon Archive Individual university fundraising

15 The Library as a place Services to academic staff are increasingly delivered to the desktop Collaboration to reduce duplication in print collections UK Research Reserve project Focus on high-quality storage of archives and special collections Design of range of study spaces to suit diverse needs

16 Changing study space needs Group study large areas and bookable rooms Learning cafes food and drink, soft seating Silent areas for individual study Fixed PCs still required Wireless everywhere plus power for laptops

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21 Coping with financial Use of self-service pressures RFID for self-service loans Virtual reference desk software Information skills via VLE Focussing collection policies in liaison with academic staff Providing course materials online to cut down on multiple copies

22 Library s role to promote research output Huge rise in institutional repositories of research papers Universities bringing in mandates to ensure deposit of research papers Theses increasingly being made available in institutional repositories Work underway on formats and metadata standards

23 What does this all this change mean for library staff? Basic values and skills remain essential Leadership and strategic vision Effective management of people and resources Subject knowledge & information management skills Customer service ethos

24 New roles /skills for library staff More technical knowledge of information systems and software Knowledge of metadata formats and standards building on cataloguing /classification Specialist roles emerging eg digitisation manager, data librarian, information skills trainer Marketing skills targeting services to specific user groups

25 Questions?