THE FUTURE OF ACADEMIC LIBRARIES (INCLUDING THE UC SAN DIEGO LIBRARIES)
UCSD LIBRARIES MANAGEMENT GROUP18 NOVEMBER 2009
Brian E. C. SchottlaenderThe Audrey Geisel University Librarian
OVERVIEW
• Hybrid Libraries• What’s the Same• What’s Different
– Users– Content– Tools and Systems– Services– Space
• What’s Coming
TODAY’S ACADEMIC LIBRARY IS STILL A HYBRID
FROM “BRICKS AND MORTAR” . . .
INFORMATION IS PAPER-BASED
. . . TO . . .
INFORMATION IS PAPER-BASED
INFORMATION IS DIGITAL
. . . “CLICKS AND MORTAR”
PAPER-BASED INFORMATION
DIGITAL INFORMATION
THE MORE THINGS CHANGE, THE MORE THEY STAY THE SAME
• Increased information output, generally • Increased publishing output,
specifically • Increased costs for publishing output
• Increased demand for services
• Increased expenditures
• Funding pressures• Staffing pressures • Space pressures
. . . “part of an uneven and protracted transition to a future that is increasingly
dominated by the fast pace of change . . . The postmodern librarian faces distinctions
between the world of print and the postmodern digital world. These distinctions involve resources, services, facilities, patrons, and the human
resources and skills associated with the profession of librarianship.”
— Peter Young
LIBRARIES ARE . . .
SO WHAT’S CHANGING?
• Users
• Content
• Tools & Systems
• Services
• Space
USERS: WHAT ARE THEIR CHARACTERISTICS?
• “Millennials are more connected than any previous generation. They grew up with mobile, easily accessible information that is available 24/7.”
— Moving Ahead 2.7 (July 2007)
• “Many Net Gen students think of their mobile devices as more than efficient or convenient pieces of hardware; they view the devices as integral to their daily lives.”
— Joan Lippincott. “Mobile Technologies, Mobile Users.” ARL 261 (December 2008)
• “ . . . there is a new focus on teamwork; students prefer working together rather than alone. This is reflected both in leisure activities, such as sports, as well as in the classroom where there is a new emphasis on group learning.”
— Susan Gardner & Susanna Eng. “What Students Want.” portal 5.3 (2005)
• “Millennials multitask, and they do it well. This is the generation most likely to be sat in front of the television while listening to their iPod, texting their friends and surfing the Internet.”
— Helen Leggatt. “Millennials: Marketing to a New Generation.” BizReport (September 18, 2008)
• “Customisation [sic], or customer co-creation, is especially important to millennials, according to executives. Nearly 40% of those surveyed believe that companies should allow customers greater choice in designing or tailoring their products, with 32% noting that companies should solicit direct input from millennials in the product creation process.”
— “Maturing with the Millennials: A Report from The Economist Intelligence Unit.” (2008)
• “They are unabashedly self-confident.”— William Pisano. “A Millennial Dilemma.” ere.net (April 23,
2008)
USERS: WHAT ARE THEIR CHARACTERISTICS?
• “Millennials are more connected than any previous generation. They grew up with mobile, easily accessible information that is available 24/7.”
— Moving Ahead 2.7 (July 2007)
• “Many Net Gen students think of their mobile devices as more than efficient or convenient pieces of hardware; they view the devices as integral to their daily lives.”
— Joan Lippincott. “Mobile Technologies, Mobile Users.” ARL 261 (December 2008)
• “ . . . there is a new focus on teamwork; students prefer working together rather than alone. This is reflected both in leisure activities, such as sports, as well as in the classroom where there is a new emphasis on group learning.”
— Susan Gardner & Susanna Eng. “What Students Want.” portal 5.3 (2005)
• “Millennials multitask, and they do it well. This is the generation most likely to be sat in front of the television while listening to their iPod, texting their friends and surfing the Internet.”
— Helen Leggatt. “Millennials: Marketing to a New Generation.” BizReport (September
18, 2008)
• “Customisation [sic], or customer co-creation, is especially important to millennials, according to executives. Nearly 40% of those surveyed believe that companies should allow customers greater choice in designing or tailoring their products, with 32% noting that companies should solicit direct input from millennials in the product creation process.”
— “Maturing with the Millennials: A Report from The Economist Intelligence Unit.” (2008)
• “They are unabashedly self-confident.”— William Pisano. “A Millennial Dilemma.” ere.net (April 23, 2008)
USERS
FROM TO
CONTENT
FROM
• Linear
• Text-oriented
• Static
• Invisible
• Cooperative
• Owned/Licensed
TO
• Linked
• Graphic/Multimedia
• Interactive and
Mobile
• Visible
• Collective
• Owned/Licensed/Open
CONTENT
FROM TO
TOOLS & SYSTEMS
FROM
• Pull
• Query-based
• Highly structured
• Complex
• Intermediated
• Generic
TO
• Push
• Interactive
• Fluid
• Simple
• Disintermediated
• Individualized
TOOLS & SYSTEMS
FROM TO
SERVICES
FROM
• Library-focused
• Expert
• In-person
• Formal
• Textual
TO
• User-focused
• Trainer/Learner
• Mobile
• Informal
• Visual
SERVICES
FROM TO
SPACE
FROM
• Resources-based
• Individual
• Access
• Formal
• Fixed
TO
• People-based
• Group
• Access &
Production
• Relaxed
• Flexible
SPACE
FROM TO
FORECAST: CLOUDY
Mass digitization e-Everything Personalization
Space pressures Budget pressures
Services Learning Teaching
Research Big Science Open access Data
G o o g l eCollaboration Competition
Access Integration Interoperation
Information Collections Control systems
Fundraising Stewardship Community
WHAT’S COMING
• Less money
• Fewer [branch] libraries
• Fewer staff
• Less heavily staffed libraries
• Smaller libraries*
• Smaller locally-held, published print collections*
*With a few notable exceptions
WHAT’S COMING
• Centralized and/or Federated published print collections
• Emphasis on primary [unpublished] research materials, including primary research data
• Emphasis on full life-cycle resource management
• Collective action:– Collections management– Collections storage
• New mandates
• Increased interdependence
“There are diverse and unmet needs . . .
… now arising within the academy … To the extent that libraries and their leaders can reposition themselves to serve these evolving needs—which pertain in part to the centralized storage, description, and delivery of academic resources, and in part to the organization and support of scholarly communication within and across higher education institutions—libraries [and academic library staff] will emerge as even more central and vibrant resources for their institutions.”
— “Changing Roles of Academic and Research Libraries”ACRL Tech Summit (November 2006)
. . . tasks and recurrent challenges will
require
from librarians [and library staff] of the future
such characteristics as flexibility,
adaptability to ever-changing environments,
multi-disciplined and multi-functional skills,
[and] team-working skills . . .”
— Blazej Feret and Marzena
Marcinek
“NEW [AND] DIFFERENT . . .
QUESTIONS?