Whither Academic Information Services in the Perfect Storm of the Early 21 st -century? Michael A. Keller Stanford University For the 8 th Bielefeld Conference

Elements of the Perfect Storm Ubiquitous network access Ubiquitous network access Low cost computers & PDAs Low cost computers & PDAs Plentiful, cheap magnetic memory Plentiful, cheap magnetic memory Just in time commercial culture; Just in time commercial culture; Public Internet an open culture Public Internet an open culture Investment market based on quarterly reports Investment market based on quarterly reports Google, Yahoo, MSN, millions of other providers, some free, some fee Google, Yahoo, MSN, millions of other providers, some free, some fee Blog-sphere, Wikis, RSS feeds Blog-sphere, Wikis, RSS feeds Course Management Systems Course Management Systems Collaboration environments Collaboration environments Virtual, global communities Virtual, global communities Anonymous institutional information environments Anonymous institutional information environments

Google Project Library Partner Motivations Vastly expand intellectual access to our collections Vastly expand intellectual access to our collections Populate digital repositories for long-term persistence of digital avatars of our collections Populate digital repositories for long-term persistence of digital avatars of our collections Defense of fair use, by employing it! Defense of fair use, by employing it! Alternate reader functions from the ones Google presently offers Alternate reader functions from the ones Google presently offers

Course Management Systems Increase use of web resources to enhance/extend in-person instruction Increase use of web resources to enhance/extend in-person instruction Dominate in most American universities Dominate in most American universities Produce lots of digital objects for institutional repositories and sharing Produce lots of digital objects for institutional repositories and sharing Make use of functions: locate, gather, deliver, create & sharing Make use of functions: locate, gather, deliver, create & sharing Drive e-portfolio services Drive e-portfolio services

Web services Discovering Discovering Locating Locating Requesting Requesting Delivering Delivering Gathering Gathering Creating Creating Sharing Sharing

Web Services based on systems On-line public access catalogs On-line public access catalogs Internet Search Engines Internet Search Engines Proprietary Search Engines Proprietary Search Engines Course Management Systems Course Management Systems Institutional Information Topographies Institutional Information Topographies Web Browser Applications Web Browser Applications The World Wide Web itself The World Wide Web itself

Services beyond Googles Taxonomic indexing – providing access to ideas in a text Taxonomic indexing – providing access to ideas in a text Associative searching – providing access by statistically ranked lists of co-terms Associative searching – providing access by statistically ranked lists of co-terms Hyperlinking of citations Hyperlinking of citations GUIs to navigate search results GUIs to navigate search results More subtle searching More subtle searching Alerting services driven by user terms Alerting services driven by user terms Recommendation services Recommendation services Info-tools assisting readers to find definitions, locations, biographical sketches Info-tools assisting readers to find definitions, locations, biographical sketches

High Touch Services First, make users predominantly self-sufficient First, make users predominantly self-sufficient Provide in-person and personalized services on demand – subject & technial specialists needed Provide in-person and personalized services on demand – subject & technial specialists needed Serve communities in responsive and distinctive ways Serve communities in responsive and distinctive ways Bibliographic, communication, & analytic services advancing research, teaching & learning Bibliographic, communication, & analytic services advancing research, teaching & learning

How many e-books? Quick Stanford study 2005 Quick Stanford study ,892 titles in English acquired in 2005 with imprint years ,892 titles in English acquired in 2005 with imprint years Random sample of 1,373 titles (6% of universe) Random sample of 1,373 titles (6% of universe) 181 titles available as e-books (13.2%) 181 titles available as e-books (13.2%) Hypothesis needs to be tested on other imprints, especially European ones Hypothesis needs to be tested on other imprints, especially European ones Will e-books replace physical books soon? Will e-books replace physical books soon? We conclude doubtful soon, but e-book readers are coming We conclude doubtful soon, but e-book readers are coming

How much information? 9B web pages indexed by Google 9B web pages indexed by Google 90B web pages behind access control 90B web pages behind access control Federated searching behind access control difficult, but important service to provide Federated searching behind access control difficult, but important service to provide

Digital Repositories So far experimental So far experimental Transparent, auditable services needed Transparent, auditable services needed Portico, KB, BL, LOCKSS/CLOCKSS, Stanford Digital Repository, others Portico, KB, BL, LOCKSS/CLOCKSS, Stanford Digital Repository, others Later more wide-spread as techniques proven Later more wide-spread as techniques proven

Aquifer of DLF Middleware services Middleware services Standards, including meta-data Standards, including meta-data Collection policies Collection policies Intended to support the federation of numerous local collections Intended to support the federation of numerous local collections Not an architecture, but a tool kit Not an architecture, but a tool kit Katherine Kott, director Katherine Kott, director

Service Framework of DLF Organizes effort and resources toward… Organizes effort and resources toward… Integration of systems, applications, standards to… Integration of systems, applications, standards to… Develop & evolve systems architectures Develop & evolve systems architectures Responsive to users Responsive to users Responsive to rapidly changing i.t. environment Responsive to rapidly changing i.t. environment Lorcan Dempsey, OCLC, lead Lorcan Dempsey, OCLC, lead

What about our people? Re-treading and re-engineering vital Re-treading and re-engineering vital Employing well-qualified engineers vital Employing well-qualified engineers vital Engaging computer scientists vital Engaging computer scientists vital Shared vision, mission, goals vital Shared vision, mission, goals vital

Libraries & Virtual Libraries Libraries as places heavily populated Libraries as places heavily populated –Services well used –Millions of books move (more as mass digitization and indexing on the web proceeds Virtual libraries heavily used, but metrics? Virtual libraries heavily used, but metrics? Planning bookless libraries, e.g. Engineering Planning bookless libraries, e.g. Engineering Planning traditional libraries, e.g. Art Planning traditional libraries, e.g. Art Bibliographic literacy & information heuristic Bibliographic literacy & information heuristic

Basic functions, regardless of medium Selection & gathering Selection & gathering Intellectual access to information objects Intellectual access to information objects Distribution of content & access Distribution of content & access Interpretation of content; navigating the ordered set and the information chaos Interpretation of content; navigating the ordered set and the information chaos Preservation of the avatars of content – physical & digital Preservation of the avatars of content – physical & digital Analysis, manipulation & presentation Analysis, manipulation & presentation

Client Focus, not Guild Focus Let the rising tide of access to information lift all the boats, everywhere