by Rick Anderson 2014 Charleston Conference Thursday, Nov 6, 11:30 AM

1. Innovation: Necessary but
Insufficient
Rick Anderson
Associate Dean for Scholarly Resources & Collections
rick.anderson@utah.edu

2. Critical Challenges for Research Libraries
 Meeting curriculum/research needs
 Managing (flat) budgets in the face of (steeply,
constantly) rising prices
 Staying relevant beyond curriculum/research support
 Scholcomm support
 Archiving (content and data)
 Publish
J. Willard Marriott Library

3. “Needs” and NEEDS
 The library has “needs”; the student/researcher has
NEEDS
 Libraries “need”
 Affordability
 Support when problems arise
 Institutional awareness of value added
 Patrons NEED
 Content
 Access (ubiquitous, intuitive, transparent, unfailing)
 Support (but only as a last-ditch option)
J. Willard Marriott Library

4. Innovation Is Not a Goal; It’s a Tool
 This means
 Patrons don’t care whether a new platform is innovative; they
care whether it’s better (and librarians care how much the
change is costing us)
 Librarians don’t care whether a new pricing structure is
innovative; we care what the price is
 Patrons don’t care about pricing at all; they care about access
 Librarians/patrons don’t care whether a new publishing strategy
is innovative; we care whether you’re publishing what patrons
need, in the formats they want, at a price the library can
(sustainably) pay
J. Willard Marriott Library

5. In other words…
Innovation matters only in context
J. Willard Marriott Library

6. Four Recommendations
 Don’t bet your future on mere innovation; focus on
improvement and increased relevance
 Think today about what you’ll do when your current
unique value proposition loses its uniqueness tomorrow
 Watch for opportunities to provide high value at low cost
 Don’t be doctrinaire
J. Willard Marriott Library

7. Discuss!
rick.anderson@utah.edu
J. Willard Marriott Library