Four inconsistent pictures, some questions and no answers: some notes about research libraries in modern times Lorcan Dempsey, OCLC Research Cambridge University Library, 13 October 2008
C REDITS Slide 1. Picture of Sterling Memorial Library. Günter Waibel. Slide 17. From avlxyz on Flickr. License: Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic Slide 10. eBoy foobar poster. content/uploads/shop/EBY_FooBar_35t.png. Available from content/uploads/shop/EBY_FooBar_35t.png Slide 21. Bondi Bay. Sydney. Powerhouse Museum. On Flickr commons. Also at: No known copyright restrictions
SETTING EXPECTATIONS
Crude, Simplistic & Reductive Jokes
ONE Materials workflow and the library systems management environment
User environment Materials workflow Management environment End User Access Management Digitised/ Digital Bought/ Physical Elctronic/ Licensed Special colls/ Archives Management
User environment Library & Network Resource Management environment End User Access Management Digitised/ Digital Bought/ Physical Elctronic/ Licensed Special colls/ Archives Find It Get It Manage It Metadata Content
User environment Library & Network Resource Management environment End User Access Management Digitised/ Digital Bought/ Physical Elctronic/ Licensed Special colls/ Archives Find It Get It Manage It Metadata Content ILL/CIRCLINK RESOLVERSPECIAL ILSERMREPOSITORY OPACMetaSearchWebsiteA-ZNxtGen MARCDCEADA&IXXX
Maths
Catalog
TWO Some thoughts about collections
C OLLECTIONS GRID highlow high Stewardship Uniqueness Low-Low Freely-accessible web resources Open source software Newsgroup archives Low-High Books & Journals Newspapers Gov Documents CD & DVD Maps Scores High-Low Research & Learning Materials Institutional records ePrints/tech reports Learning objects Courseware E-portfolios Research data Prospectus Insitutional website High-High Special Collections Rare books Local/Historical Newspapers Local History Materials Archives & Manuscripts Theses & dissertations
Licensed Purchaser Licensed Scholarly record? Book content Print (B&J) Value – Opportunity cost Systemwide – Storage – Digitization – Preservation highlow high Stewardship Uniqueness B OOKS AND JOURNALS
Archives and special collections Mobilize in learning and research Digitize The new institutional record The outputs of research and learning – Data – big and small – Eprints, learning materials – A lifes work on a thumb drive Records management – Podcasts, videos, … – Website, prospectus, … – Business records highlow high Stewardship Uniqueness T HE NEW SPECIAL COLLECTIONS ?
THREE Library services in the new network environment
library User environments Management environment Licensed Bought Faculty& students Digitized Aggregations Resource sharing Personal Workflow RSS, toolbars,.. Network level workflow Google, … Institutional Workflow Portals, VLE, IR, … Integrated local user environment? Library web presence Resource sharing, … Archives
Then: Resources scarce; attention abundant Discovery happens elsewhere Then: users built workflow around libraries Now: library must build services around user workflow Now: Attention scarce; resources abundant
A feed-based universe
Google scholar
FOUR Value and risk
User experience Expertise Collections Systems and services
H&SSSTMProf A&HSSBio SciMedPhysciEngBsnsLaw Coll- ections Bought Licensed Inst. User Exper- ience Place Network Expert- ise Systems & services Apps Infra- Struct- ure
Thank you