1. The Future—My Take Or, Random Musings from the Chairlift...

2. “The Times, They Are A’Changing...” Today’s students live a life shaped by technological innovations Undergraduates immediately go online often with a general web search

3. So Does an Earlier Generation “’I live on the Internet,’ General Powell said. He cited his favorite site: www.refdesk.com.... The reference site is so comprehensive, General Powell said, he has thrown out all his encyclopedias and dictionaries.” --New York Times, 1/26/01

4. We Have New Clienteles Distributed learners Alumni Non-affiliated users of locally-created digital collections

5. We Have Old Clienteles with New Needs Users of electronic resources Users of in-building workstations “Remote” users with one phone line

6. Changing Emphases within Research Libraries Commitment to the digital library Commitment to alumni Commitment to collaboration Lower value placed on traditional services

7. Access to More and More of Our Resources is Digital Digital collections have broken the constraints of time and space Users of electronic resources continue to need assistance Reference assistance should also break the constraints of time and space

8. CUL is Investing Heavily in the Digital Library Focus has been on the digitization of collections Very little attention has been focused on digital services to support those collections This MUST change! D-LIT is beginning to see importance of user services

9. In-Person Transactions are Dropping

10. This is Not Just a Cornell Phenomenon

11. We’re No Longer the Only Game in Town AskJeeves receives over 4,000,000 queries per day Remember Colin Powell!

12. Our Challenge We must use traditional strengths and values to build new programs and services We must create a new paradigm wherein we no longer define ourselves, our professional roles, and our services solely—or chiefly — in terms of “the desk”

13. Vision Users will have digital access to high quality reference services anytime from anywhere Reference service will be a key component of the digital library Digital reference should be “High Tech and High Touch”

14. Guiding Values The core values which have informed our services and programs for years must inform our new services and programs

15. Traditional View of Reference Librarian and Library are the centers of the universe Users come to the desk in the library for service Desk hours reflect library needs Users come to the library for instruction

16. A New View of Reference Users are the center of the universe Services revolve around users Reference services are available digitally and physically Reference services are synchronous and asynchronous Reference service hours meet users’ needs

17. Reference Services Break Constraints of Time and Place Reference services are available ubiquitously in the library Reference services are available in labs and dorms Reference services are available in users’ offices Libraries collaborate to meet their users’ needs

18. We Take Instruction to Our Users Library instruction is presented on the web Library instruction is presented in wired classrooms We create a mobile, wireless lab for use in non-wired classrooms Library instruction is presented in the library

19. We’ve Already Begun the Transformation! Reference E-Mail {ca. 1990 -- } Online Tutorials {1994 -- } Videoconference Reference {1997} LiveHelp {2000 -- } Collaborative Digital Reference Service {2000 -- }

20. We Must Continue to be Willing to Experiment and to Take Risks! We Must Continue to be Willing to Experiment and to Take Risks!

21. Expand and Enhance Digital Reference Services Increase hours of availability Collaborate with other institutions Upgrade digital reference software Enhance reference e-mail service

22. Create New Reference Services, Programs, and Models of Service

23. Expand and Enhance Digital Instruction

24. We Must Continue to Grow Professionally and Develop New Skills

25. Opportunities Input into the Digital Library Seeking outside funding North and West Campuses Value-added resources onto the Gateway Redesign web page from user perspective Mount statistical/geospatial data

26. Three Years Out More time spent on digital reference Harder to define primary clientele Longer hours of service {24/7 model} Streaming media services to remote users

27. But What About The Desk?? We will continue to staff the desk for the foreseeable future; we may not staff it at the same level we do today The desk will be one of many service points Digital or virtual service points will grow in importance

28. Why Change Now? We must do things differently if we are to survive I don’t want to lose anyone or any lines to reallocation I want us to control and shape our future We must reflect the CUL commitment to the Digital Library We work for an administration with NO public service experience

29. And If We Don’t Make These Changes? We will become increasingly irrelevant to our users We will lose administrative and institutional credibility We will likely lose staff and resources through reallocation We will be marginalized and eventually reorganized out of existence

30. A state without the means of some change is without the means of its conservation. --Edmund Burke