what’s next? new directions for -...
TRANSCRIPT
What’s Next? New Directions for
Academic LibrariesTamar Sadeh, PhD
BYBSYS Conference 2015
Trondheim, Norway ◊ March 10, 2015
Abstract
With the advancement of sophisticated, unmediated information environments in academia, one of the traditional key roles of the library—as the intermediary between the end user and the library collection—is losing substance. Are libraries in danger of becoming just a means for enabling users to seamlessly access scholarly resources? Or are there new ways for librarians to demonstrate their library’s core asset—a thorough understanding of the scholarly information landscape, its twists and turns, and the manner in which it can be harnessed for the enrichment of an innovative, knowledgeable, critical, and collaborative academic community?
In this talk, I will discuss areas in academia in which the library can take an active, and even leading, role.
Let’s first look at academia at large
Research
and
innovation
Cultivating
openness
and critical
thinking
Knowledge
Transfer
Outputs
And then think about the library’s
strengths
Comprehending scholarly content
Curating
Classifying
Describing
Indexing
Searching, retrieving, enabling
access, and aiding dissemination
And libraries have trust capital.
This is where the library is today
In the foreground
A physical space
Offering physical, digital, and subscribed collections
Providing guidance related to finding materials
In the background
Busy with acquisition, circulation, cataloging…
Developing physical and electronic collections
Perhaps leading or being involved in creating and maintaining digital collections and institutional repositories
And all along collaborating with other institutional bodies, other libraries, and other external stakeholders (e.g., subscription agents and publishers)
The
Library
But the world is moving on!
Users are information savvy*
Materials are available in non-physical media and through
alternative channels**
Library buildings change their function
Practices are changing for
Scholarly communication
Teaching and learning
Research
“It is not the strongest of the species that survive,
nor the most intelligent, but the ones most
responsive to change.”
Charles Darwin
So where will libraries be in five or
ten years?
Still more to do in our comfort zone:
e.g., the library as a place
This is not enough.
Let’s look at the world around us.
The Horizon Reports
Johnson, L., Adams Becker, S., Estrada, V., and Freeman, A. (2015). NMC Horizon
Report: 2015 Higher Education Edition. Austin, Texas: The New Media Consortium.
Three focus areas
Key trends accelerating technology adoption in higher education
short-, mid-, and long-term
Significant challenges impeding technology adoption in higher
education
Solvable, difficult, and wicked
Important developments in educational technology for higher education
Immediate, close, and further time-to-adoption
Three meta-dimensions
Policy: formal laws, regulations, rules, and guidelines that govern
universities and colleges
e.g., endorsement of open access and open educational resources (OERs)
Leadership: the product of experts’ visions of the future of learning
e.g., the redesign of learning spaces and leading university alliances
Practice: where new ideas and pedagogies take action
e.g., the support of blended learning
A word about leadership
‘It will require visionary leadership to build higher education
environments that are equipped to quickly change processes and strategies as startups do. If these organizational models are designed
well, universities can experience more efficient implementation of new
practices and pedagogies.’
An example: Aalborg University
Benefits of the Aalborg PBL model
The PBL-based pedagogical model of the University has become both
nationally and internationally recognised by universities, researchers and
students as an advanced and efficient learning model. Thus,UNESCO has
placed its only Danish Chair in PBL at Aalborg University. AAU will continue to
develop and adapt the Aalborg PBL Model to meet the societal and
educational demands and changes. This learning model provides AAU students with the possibility of:
acquiring knowledge and skills independently and at a high academic level
working analytically and according to interdisciplinary and problem and result
oriented methods
cooperating with the business community on the solution of authentic professional
problems
developing their abilities within teamwork
becoming well prepared for the labour market
Trends, challenges, and
developments in technology
Meta-dimensions: policy, leadership, and practice
Trends accelerating technology adoption in
academic and research libraries
Fast trends
Increasing focus on research data management for publications
Prioritization of mobile content and delivery
Mid-range trends
Evolving nature of the scholarly record
Increasing accessibility of research content
Long-range trends
Continual progress in technology, standards, and infrastructure
Rise of new forms of multidisciplinary research
Increasing focus on research data
management for publications
Growing availability of non-final products—reports, experiments,
tests, and simulation data
Diverse representations media, including audio, video, and
visualizations technologies
New methods of processing and managing data
Linking between all parts of a research
Linking between multiple researches
New tools for data mining scientific data and final publications
This is where libraries can fit in
Trends accelerating technology adoption in academic and research libraries Fast trends
What can libraries do?
Archive datasets and other materials
Describe materials
Make them linkable
Make them discoverable
Enable pattern and trend recognition
Develop assessment tools
Help researchers with formal matters
Re-distribution and citation rights
Alternative licensing
Legal language for fair re-use
Next step: research information
management systems
Managing research life-cycle, including organizations, procedures,
data, and outputs
Synchronization of data about the research and of the research
Dealing with compliance and assessment
Providing better visibility and improved reputation management
Research information management systems - a new service category?Lorcan Dempsey; October 26, 2014 ◊ http://orweblog.oclc.org/archives/002218.html
http://www.jisc.ac.uk/rd/projects/research-information-management
http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20140702233839/http://www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/programmes/di_researchmanagement/researchinformation.aspx
Prioritization of mobile content and
delivery
Increasing adoption of mobile devices in the information market,
including academia
A mobile strategy for libraries
Supporting existing services on mobile platforms
Developing new services
And yet, a question.
Trends accelerating technology adoption in academic and research libraries Fast trends
Evolving nature of the scholarly
record
The internet has changed our world
Practically every scholarly work can be accessed online
Information is immediate
Communication is more immediate, more frequent, more public
No limitation on types of publications and media used to access and
process them
Libraries can play a role
Develop alternative assessment tools
Determine the various publication routes
Define a framework for a new scholarly record
Trends accelerating technology adoption in academic and research libraries Mid-range trends
Lots of questions, also for libraries
What is considered a scholarly record?
Who are the stakeholders involved in the lifecycle of such record
and what are their roles?
How can and should digital materials change?
How such changes will impact discovery, access, use, and citation
and referencing practices?
How can we ensure long-term sustainability?
Increasing accessibility of research
content
Building institutional repositories and enabling the discoverability of
their content
Adopting open-access guidelines, now also being required by
research funders
Working with publishers on new subscription models
Trends accelerating technology adoption in academic and research libraries Mid-range trends
Continual progress in technology,
standards, and infrastructure
To maintain their relevance, libraries need to develop their resources
and services
Become user-centric rather than collection centric
Support mobile and social behaviors
Optimize e-content, including through cross-institution collaborations
and partnerships
Share digital content and enable it to text-mining tools
Form global networks
Update facilities
Trends accelerating technology adoption in academic and research libraries Long-range trends
Challenges impeding technology adoption in
academic and research libraries
Solvable challenges
Embedding academic and research libraries in the curriculum
Rethinking the roles and skills of librarians
Difficult challenges
Capturing and archiving the digital outputs of research as collection material
Competition from alternative avenues of discovery
Wicked challenges
Embracing the need for radical change
Maintaining ongoing integration, interoperability, and collaborative projects
The library in the teaching and
learning realm
Being involved in teaching and learning
To better support instructors and students
To ensure the proper use of materials
To optimally develop the library collections
To advise about new materials and new types of materials
To measure and demonstrate the library’s value to the institution
The library needs to become an integral part
Technology is the key
Five Outsell predictions for 2015
Increased investment in educational technology (edtech)
The "edtech gap"
Improving learning outcomes
The hybrid nature of the market
Lifelong learning
Summing Up
Possible directions for the library: being
involved in new areas and playing new roles in
existing ones
Evidence-based collection development
Assessment measurements and student engagement
Teaching and learning
Publishing
Open-access publishing
Diverse research outputs
New publishing media
Research
Pre-research services
Administration of research workflows
Research data management
‘We recognize that the library really needs to provide modalities for all
kinds of learning. We need to move beyond the process of just finding
information and discovering information. We are moving to a stage
now where we take information, and we analyze it. We synthesize it.
We think about it. And finally, we create.’
Richard E. Luce
Associate vice president for research
Dean University Libraries
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqPqqzC70Hc
At Johns Hopkins and many other top universities, libraries are aiming to
become more active partners in the research enterprise — altering the
way scientists conduct and publish their work. Libraries are looking to
assist with all stages of research, by offering guidance and tools for
collecting, exploring, visualizing, labelling and sharing data.
‘I see us moving up the food chain and being co-contributors to
the creation of new knowledge,’ says Sarah Thomas, the head of
libraries at the University of Oxford, UK.
Publishing frontiers: The library reboot. As scientific publishing moves to
embrace open data, libraries and researchers are trying to keep upby: Richard MonasterskyNature, Vol. 495, No. 7442. (27 March 2013), pp. 430-432, doi:10.1038/495430a Key: citeulike:12227931
Making the Most of Discovery—
Primo Today and in the FutureTamar Sadeh, PhD
Director of Discovery and Delivery Strategy
Abstract
Discovery systems have become the norm for the academic
community. As these systems mature, new possibilities are emerging that enable the systems to leverage the unique technological and
content infrastructure that is now available. In today’s vast high-quality,
well-structured information landscape, the combination of massive
computing power and sophisticated algorithms can generate
structures and build relationships between data elements. With the
addition of advanced integration capabilities, new types of interfaces
and services are now becoming feasible.
This presentation will describe recent enhancements to the Ex Libris
Primo solution and illustrate various ways in which institutions have
leveraged its capabilities. The talk will then focus on the Ex Libris plans
for next-generation discovery and delivery.
Agenda
The basics of discovery: a reminder
Primo in action
Next to come
Search and exploration
The treasure trove: data and technological expertise
User experience
Reading lists
The basics of discovery
Why discovery systems?
One interface—everything the library deems relevant in one place
User experience—branded and consistent; a platform for offering
relevant services
Content—structured, comprehensive, multidisciplinary, and relevant
Full-text access—clear and with no frustration
Search—pre- and post-search options that help users focus
Recommendations—leading to relevant items, regardless of the query
Analytics—supporting decision making
Primo in action
The goal
Make the library Website become the virtual manifestation of the
library with Search and Website forming a unified whole.
Key principles
Focus on the local characteristics
Modern design and simplicity
Make all library collections available through a single interface
Make a Primo-driven website the library’s primary service platform*
No distinctions between the website and the library collections
Integrate search into every library page
Include the library site in the search scope
Develop services using ‘Uber’ principles
Integrate additional services in context
Create dynamic pages based on Primo searches
Make use of the full Primo capabilities
* BU are using the Wordpress enterprise-level content management system
The proof of the pudding is in
the eating
Number of Primo Searches per Day
Boston University, MA, USA
0
10,000
20,000
30,000
40,000
50,000
60,000
70,000
80,000
90,000
October
2009*
August
2010
March
2011
May
2012
November
2013
Primo
implementation:
June 2010
900
11,000
28,000
47,000
78,000
* OPAC searches
Some comments following the
implementation of Hollis+ at Harvard
I just wanted to say, on behalf of graduate students across
the Harvard campus, THANK YOU for Hollis+!!!! and the
same enthusiastic thank you for the retrieval ("request
item") service (plus "map it"). We really, really appreciate
these services.
HOLLIS+ Is The Best
I thank you, and praise you, O you Hollis+ of my library, who
have given me wisdom and access, and have made known to
me now what we desired of you: for you have now made known
to us the knowledge of the ages.
Thank you, Harvard library, for enabling database searches in
Chinese and Japanese characters in Hollis +. It makes a huge
difference in my research.
Next to come
This is what we know*
More than 50% of searches are for known-items
Learning is part of information searching; e.g., building terminology
Following trails is hugely important
No one strategy or technique fits all
Academic degree, expertise, discipline, specific task at hand—all matter
Most materials used by undergraduates are listed in course readings
* Based on log analysis and user studies
From search to discovery
The base: optimal support of known-item searching
Additionally: browsing
Finding through recognition rather than specification
Next layer: building exploration trails to follow
References and citations
Implicit recommendations based on real-life selection patterns
Topics
Authors, institutions, and departments
Known-item search
Support various types of queries, e.g.,
Support query variations, e.g.,
Typos or spelling mistakes
Missing or redundant words
Traditional browsing
Virtual shelf
Exploration trails: references and
citations
Implicit recommendations based
on real-life selection patterns
Themes and concepts
The treasure trove
One billion items in the Primo Central Index
Automated text analysis and clustering of items, based on similarities
Clustering based on data mining
User experience
Optimal support for
Search and navigation
Mobile devices
Personalization
And for librarians: Oracle business intelligence (OBI) reports
Expanding the reach of the library
The library is looking for ways in which it can be more involved in
teaching and learning
To better support instructors and students
To ensure the proper use of materials
To optimally develop the library collections
To measure and demonstrate the library’s value to the institution
Reading-list offering
Serves instructors, students, and librarians
Instructors create, maintain, evaluate, and share reading lists and
monitor their use
Students access materials, share their views, and suggest additional
materials
Librarians make materials available and track their use through the
library management service
Tightly integrates with the course management system and other
relevant systems and services and supports cross-system workflows
Summing up: our focus in 2015-2016
Current focus: a higher level of discovery
Optimal support for known-item searching
Exploration trails, following relations between items
Support for serendipitous discovery
Clustering, based on extensive data and Big Data technologies
User experience
How things look and function
Support for mobile devices
Personalization
Better integration of the library services in teaching and learning environments
