Charting New Roads – Moving Libraries Forward
Questioning libraries
The decline and the Fall of the Library Empire / Steve Coffman. Searcher v20(3) April 2012
The Library Autopsy Report / Brian T. Sullivan. The Chronicle of Higher Education, 2 Jan 2011
INTRODUCTIONHighlight some areas of library work that is important
for us to continue doing & to build new capabilities
REFRAMING LIBRARIES
Storehouse of books
and documents
Learning Facilitating the use of
information for
Wisdom
CHARTING NEW & IMPROVED PATHS
Learning & knowledge
As provider of information resources
As discovery tool
As facilitator of learning
FOCUSING ON 3 AREAS
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Promote effective use of information
A place for building community
RESOURCE PROVISION
Most people are satisfied with info found from Google
Formal publications ($$$$!) are essential to academic work & research
Pooling of resources lead to cheaper & wider access
Pooling of resources
New technology requires management
RESOURCE PROVISIONManaging digital resources
e.g. print vs e-books
Owning books vs Using books for research
Affordability of resources will always be an issue
RESOURCE PROVISIONOpen Access (OA) materials
enhancementsadvocacy
repositories
new layer of managementarticle processing fee
free to usersbut cost involvedLibraries’ roles in OA
Roles in Green route
Roles in Gold route
Also need to continue with provision of access to current resources
New technology provides new opportunities for collaborative work with faculty and users
RESOURCE PROVISIONCreating new resources
Digital library / repository platformsLibrary systemsSocial media tools, blogs, etc
NTU example – Bagan Murals, EOS, ADM
ROLE OF LIBRARIAN• Site design• Design information
organization, taxonomy
• Facilitate sharing of content via social media tool
• Add value – design interactive map
Using Wordpress
Interactive map (designed by Library)
OTHER EXAMPLES
RESOURCE PROVISIONCreating new resources
Not one-off project, aim for resource creation to be a routine regular library service
Work suitable for library involvementFaculty produced, unique resources
Requires content organization & description
Make use of expertise of librarians
RESOURCE PROVISIONCreating new resources
Impact on library organization
Role of subject librariansRoles of cataloguers
Re-organisation of work – drawing on teams
Resource provisionPATHS TO CONTINUE, IMPROVE & BUILD
Optimal way to manage a more complex mix of resources, including new ones
Manage IR for green route OA
Manage gold route OA
Produce new resources & content with faculty
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In pursuit of ideas and thoughtsDISCOVERY
Ideas & thoughts change the world
“The whole idea of a library is based on a misunderstanding: that the reader goes into the library to find a book whose title he knows” Instead the essential function of a library “is to discover books of whose existence the reader has no idea” (1993)
An insight from Eco Umberto
A superb place for discovery of ideas
Library for discovery of ideasDISCOVERY
Libraries are organized for discoveryClassification
Catalogue
Other ways of discoveryDISCOVERY
Libraries used less for discovery now
Libraries forced to emulate what is available on the Internet
Libraries will follow technological trends
Other ways of discoveryDISCOVERY
Based on document attributes - libraries
Based on usage pattern, recommendations
e.g. Google, Amazon, Netflix, etc.
Recognize that libraries is just one of many nodes for discovery
Promote use of different sources according to purpose
For academic research and learning, libraries are valuable :
Emphasizing uniqueness of librariesDISCOVERY
Organized access to scholarly materials“Slow” media (e.g. books) are necessaryProvide access to things behind pay wall
Social mediaDISCOVERY
Information discovery - from friends to social media
Social media is a tool for librarians to help users in information discovery
NTU Libraries adopt a whole-of-organization approach – to train all librarians to participate in social media
Libraries need to have strong presence thereNot just for outreach – also to promote information discovery
Using Facebook to lead users to resources
Librarians in social mediaDISCOVERY
Participate in social media sites of users and others
Encourage library staff to build reputation online as information discovery “agents”
Moving reference work to social media space - Waiting for queries vs seeking out information needs
Take holistic approach to discovery in designing library services
Emphasizing strength of library in academic work
Have strong presence in social media
Librarians build strong reputation online
Continue implementation & development of discovery tools
DiscoveryPATHS TO CONTINUE, IMPROVE & BUILD
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Increased information – more critical is unprecedented accessMore information does not make people more knowledgeable or wiser
More information increases noise – previously controlled by libraries
FACILITATING LEARNINGInformation landscape
Burden is on users to discern useful info
Meta learning skillsFACILITATING LEARNING
More important today - to have meta-learning skills – i.e. learning how to learnWhy librarians are good at this?
Fundamental principle of libraries
Non-prescriptive learning
CONTENTUSER
BEHAVIORLibrarian
Involvement in classroom learningFACILITATING LEARNING
Teaching information literacyAn accepted part of academic librarians’ work – content continuously evolvingOften conducted as supporting activity & not integrated in learning
Active partnership in classroom learningMore direct contact with learners
Using course blogs in NTU Libraries
Example 1 : COURSE BLOGS – Conservation Psychology
• Student assignments in blog format
• Psychology librarian set up blogs
• Teach student • Provide advice (reference
services) on content – greater interaction – more embedded
Example 2 : COURSE BLOGS – Contemporary Social Theory – one semester course
Course management tools to discuss readings
Librarian set up blog, with links to reading materials
Blog is openly accessible
All postings are archived
80 students – 888 comments to postings – of substantial length
Students enjoy sharing ideas & opinions with classmates – able to convey better than face to face
Strong class participationArchived materials used for revision
All the while monitored by the Sociology Librarian !!
Platforms for research & teaching supportFACILITATING LEARNING
With history professor :
An international, multilingual resource for teachers and scholars to share resources on scientific & technical issues related to disasters in Japan
Each institution has different situation that requires different approaches in enagaging in classroom learning
Strategies for classroom involvementFACILITATING LEARNING
NTU Libraries - Building platforms (e.g. blogs) with teaching staff
Provide librarians with experience & contactsGreater & better direct contact with learners
Develop new approaches & services to in the future
Continue to develop new programmes in information literacy work
Help teaching staff build cooperative platforms for learning
Facilitating learningPATHS TO CONTINUE, IMPROVE & BUILD
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focus on meta learning skills to deal with global information environment
Find opportunities to be directly engaged with student learning
Continuing value of librariesCONCLUSION
Resource provision, discovery & learning
Libraries has seen through many “end of” predictions
Librarians will decide through their action on the survival of libraries
THANK [email protected]