The document discusses predictions for libraries in 2020. It describes how library spaces may evolve from places for quiet study to active learning hubs. It also explores how print collections may decrease as electronic resources grow, though reliability and access issues remain. The role of librarians is envisioned to shift from stamping books to providing expertise through embedded roles and research support. The future library catalog is predicted to involve more collaborative cataloging and value-added features rather than exhaustive records.

1. A TOUR OF THE
LIBRARY OF THE
FUTURE
Bethan Ruddock @bethanar AWHILES
2012

2. The library of 2020
• The foyer: library as place
• The stacks: what will be on the
shelves?
• The computer cluster: e-information
provision
• The back office: the catalogue

3. The foyer: library as place
Image used under a CC licence from http://www.flickr.com/photos/tzhaya/5462222662/

4. Not all stamping books &
‘shhhhh’
... but they do have their place!
Face-to-face interactions allow you
to:
• Connect with your users
• Form relationships
• Gather feedback
And ‘shhh’-ing?
• Creating a good working
environment for your users
The Nancy Pearl Librarian action figure, from http://www.mcphee.com/shop/products/Librarian-Action-Figure.html

5. Libraries as learning spaces
Alan Gilbert Learning Commons at the University of Manchester http://www.library.manchester.ac.uk/aboutus/projects/aglc/

6. Library as place in 2020?
Images used under CC licences from http://www.flickr.com/photos/jhoweaa/327651705/ and http://www.iconarchive.com/show/colorflow-icons-by-
tribalmarkings/wi-fi-icon.html

7. Where’s the librarian?
Here? Embedded
librarianship:
Working
within multi-
disciplinary
teams
Image used under a CC licence from http://www.flickr.com/photos/armymedicine/6300225700/

8. The big question
Will ‘library as place’
remain key?

9. The stacks: what will be on the
shelves?
Rise of e-information
Will print books/journals
disappear?
Will subscriptions
continue? Or will Open
Access rule?
Image used under a CC licence from http://www.flickr.com/photos/simplerich/2471580861/

10. Full-text at your fingertips
Image used under a CC licence from http://www.flickr.com/photos/western4uk/438611927/

11. Reliability?
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
Version prepared for the Barnes
& Noble Nook by Superior
Formatting publishing
Screenshot from http://www.geek.com/articles/gadgets/b-n-ebooks-nookd-2012065/

12. Language barriers
Taken from Doncaster West PCT’s Glossary of Yorkshire Medical Terms http://regmedia.co.uk/2006/04/24/glossary_for_international_recruits.pdf

13. Reliability/authenticity
• How do you know the text you’re getting is the text
the author intended?
• Where might errors have crept in?
• Unintentional errors
• Malicious errors
• How to detect?
• Checksums
• Digitally signed PDFs
• Contact the authors
• Expertise!

14. Access issues
Loading, please wait

15. Cost
Institutions reporting journal subscription fees as
‘unsustainable’
Is Open Access the way forward?
Harvard announcement: http://isites.harvard.edu/icb/icb.do?keyword=k77982&pageid=icb.page498032&pageContentId=icb.pagecontent1061869

17. Role of the librarian?
A legitimate site?
Elly O’Brien & Lisa Hutchins noticed:
• URL (http://www.rescancer.com/)
• No information about who runs the site
• Incorrect tags: article about lung cancer
tagged cervical cancer
• Contact is a hotmail email address
• No author or journal information
• Charging for freely available articles
• Domain owner owns hundreds of other
domains
• Look at source code: website built using
free tools; does it contain hidden
spam/SEO links?

18. The big question
Is Open Access the way
forward?

19. The computer cluster: e-
information
• How will users access e-information?
• Desktops?
• Phones?
• E-readers?
• Tablets?
• ???
• Research from Pew: 85% of those who don’t own
an ereader and 81% of those who don’t own a
tablet have no plans to buy one
http://pewinternet.org/Presentations/2012/Jun/SUNY-Libraries.aspx

20. Computer clusters: the past
Image from Big Lottery Fund Research Issue 7 The People’s Network: evaluation summary http://www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/er_eval_peoples_network_evaluation_summary_uk.pdf

21. Computer clusters: the present
Image of Amsterdam Library used under a CC licence from http://www.flickr.com/photos/piet_musterd/2730906433/

22. Computer clusters: the future?
Image used under a CC licence from http://www.flickr.com/photos/currybet/344024653/

23. Equal access for all?
Image used under a CC licence from http://www.flickr.com/photos/pigstyave/2735970994/

24. Barriers to access
• No subscriptions
• Access control problems/authentication
• Sites blocked
• Twitter, flickr, Facebook, youtube, blogs
• Content blocked
• ‘inappropriate’
• Differing levels of resource & access levels
• Eg from Summon to library catalogue

25. Where will scholarly communication
happen?
Blogs, forums, social media &
discussion sites, Q&A sites, publisher
sites, comment sections, cloud storage
...
... video chats, webinars,
twitter chats, vlogs, podcasts,
repositories, conference
livestreams, wikis,
colloborative bookmarking,
tag clouds...

26. The big question
How will information be delivered
in the future?

27. The back office: cataloguing
Cataloguing: vital for
resource discovery?
Predictions:
• Rise in copy-, collective-,
and collaborative-
cataloguing
• Share records – for free?
• Fewer specialist
cataloguers – mainly for
rare/special
• Roles for consortia:
subject/sector/user-
specific

28. Cataloguing: alternatives?
• Full-text search & text mining
• Where allowed by publishers
• Where includable in catalogue
• Semantic search
• Still ‘learning’
• Linked data/semantic web
• Not at saturation point
• Link in external resources
• APIs, RSS feeds, metadata

29. And if we don’t...?

30. The catalogue should:
• Add value
• Be:
• Comprehensive
• User-friendly
• Knowledge-base
• Contain:
• ‘Grey’ literature
• Recommender functions
• Expert advice
Image used under a CC licence from http://www.flickr.com/photos/kevharb/5466078785/

31. The big question
Name one key feature of the
health library catalogue of 2020

32. Where have we been?
• The foyer: library as place: study space
• The stacks: what will be on the shelves?:
more e-, less print
• The computer cluster: e-information
provision: opening up access
• The back office: the catalogue: fewer
cataloguers, more curators

33. And the librarian?
• New ways to find out about and connect
with users
• Research:
• Market research
• Ethnographic/observational
• Statistics and logs

34. Become the resource
Image used under a CC licence from http://www.flickr.com/photos/benchilada/6674045235/

35. Become the resource
Image used under a CC licence from http://www.flickr.com/photos/russell_reno/500304827/

36. Become the resource
Image used under a CC licence from http://www.flickr.com/photos/pkz/6222862929/

37. Become a colleague
Image used under a CC licence from http://www.flickr.com/photos/kalexanderson/4728391136/

38. @bethanar
bethaninfoprof.wordpress.com
bethan.ruddock@manchester.ac.uk