- The use of general print book collections in research libraries is declining rapidly as the scholarly publishing model shifts to digital. It no longer makes sense for libraries to focus on acquiring commodity books that are widely available through commercial markets.
- Instead, libraries should shift their focus to special collections - acquiring, digitizing, and making discoverable rare and unique materials that would otherwise be inaccessible. This includes primary sources, manuscripts, artifacts, etc. that have cultural and historical value beyond just their content.
- By acquiring, digitizing, and providing open access to special collection materials, libraries can ensure the preservation of and access to important cultural heritage while carving out a distinct and essential role in the digital age.
The document discusses various free online tools that libraries can use to market their collections, including social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, blogs, and library applications. Specific strategies are provided, such as using Twitter to advertise new additions and answer reference questions, creating a Facebook page to provide updates and gather feedback, and employing tools that integrate with library catalogs like LibraryThing. The presenters encourage libraries to share their success stories of using technology to promote services.
Envisioning the library of the future is a major research project undertaken by the Arts Council in 2012/13 that will help us to understand the future for libraries, and how we can enable them to develop.
The document reports on research into the intrinsic value of libraries as public spaces in the digital age. It finds that while library users regularly visit physical library spaces, they are less satisfied with their online library experience compared to physical spaces. The research surveyed nearly 600 library users across several countries about their use of and satisfaction with online and physical library services. It also interviewed librarians about the challenges of digital change. Key findings include that users want an easier to use online experience from libraries that is on par with other digital services, and that libraries need to better communicate their role in the physical-digital space to remain relevant to communities.
Who Needs Libraries? - Panel - Tech Forum 2014BookNet Canada
"Who Needs Libraries" panel at BookNet Canada's Tech Forum - March 6, 2014. Mohammed Hosseini-Ara (moderator), Catherine Biss, Andrew Martin, Katherine Palmer, Kim Silk
The document discusses several recent developments related to open access and e-books:
1) The World Bank approved a new open access policy for its research outputs allowing public distribution and reuse of its work.
2) A Pew Research Center report examined how the rise of e-books is affecting libraries and their patrons. Librarians believe e-books have been good for libraries and reading in general.
3) Brazil will allow prisoners to have sentences reduced by reading books and writing essays on them.
The document then discusses how the book is being transformed from a simple digital copy to a new networked object, and how this impacts concepts like openness, libraries, readers and knowledge.
Keynote presentation delivered July 28, 2010
Handheld Librarian Online Conference III
www.handheldlibrarian.org
See slideshow: http://www.slideshare.net/lisacarlucci/risk-reality-the-mobile-revolution
This presentation was provided by Brewster Kahle of The Internet Archive, during the NISO event "Owing, Licensing, and Sharing Digital Content." The virtual conference was held on Thursday, January 21, 2021.
The document discusses various free online tools that libraries can use to market their collections, including social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, blogs, and library applications. Specific strategies are provided, such as using Twitter to advertise new additions and answer reference questions, creating a Facebook page to provide updates and gather feedback, and employing tools that integrate with library catalogs like LibraryThing. The presenters encourage libraries to share their success stories of using technology to promote services.
Envisioning the library of the future is a major research project undertaken by the Arts Council in 2012/13 that will help us to understand the future for libraries, and how we can enable them to develop.
The document reports on research into the intrinsic value of libraries as public spaces in the digital age. It finds that while library users regularly visit physical library spaces, they are less satisfied with their online library experience compared to physical spaces. The research surveyed nearly 600 library users across several countries about their use of and satisfaction with online and physical library services. It also interviewed librarians about the challenges of digital change. Key findings include that users want an easier to use online experience from libraries that is on par with other digital services, and that libraries need to better communicate their role in the physical-digital space to remain relevant to communities.
Who Needs Libraries? - Panel - Tech Forum 2014BookNet Canada
"Who Needs Libraries" panel at BookNet Canada's Tech Forum - March 6, 2014. Mohammed Hosseini-Ara (moderator), Catherine Biss, Andrew Martin, Katherine Palmer, Kim Silk
The document discusses several recent developments related to open access and e-books:
1) The World Bank approved a new open access policy for its research outputs allowing public distribution and reuse of its work.
2) A Pew Research Center report examined how the rise of e-books is affecting libraries and their patrons. Librarians believe e-books have been good for libraries and reading in general.
3) Brazil will allow prisoners to have sentences reduced by reading books and writing essays on them.
The document then discusses how the book is being transformed from a simple digital copy to a new networked object, and how this impacts concepts like openness, libraries, readers and knowledge.
Keynote presentation delivered July 28, 2010
Handheld Librarian Online Conference III
www.handheldlibrarian.org
See slideshow: http://www.slideshare.net/lisacarlucci/risk-reality-the-mobile-revolution
This presentation was provided by Brewster Kahle of The Internet Archive, during the NISO event "Owing, Licensing, and Sharing Digital Content." The virtual conference was held on Thursday, January 21, 2021.
Evaluating E-Book Offerings discusses the benefits and challenges of eBooks for libraries. It provides an overview of the major ways libraries can purchase eBooks, including through aggregators, publishers, wholesalers and consortia. The presentation also discusses questions libraries should ask vendors and reviews strategies law libraries are taking, such as purchasing directly from publishers, highlighting existing eBook collections, and combining multiple eBook acquisition methods.
E-books are becoming more popular, but their role in public libraries is still controversial. While e-books are mainstream in academic libraries, public libraries represent a small and declining portion of the overall publishing market. Publishers have concerns about business models for public library lending of e-books, as they want a piece of revenue each time a book is borrowed. As a result, restrictions have been placed on e-book lending from public libraries.
The document summarizes key findings from the 2010 OCLC report "Perceptions of Libraries." It finds that while most Americans use online resources like search engines and social media, libraries still play an important role in providing free services and materials. Younger groups have integrated new technologies into their daily lives more than older groups, but all groups are increasing their use of digital information sources. The recession has increased reliance on libraries for those economically impacted. Libraries are seen as more than just physical spaces for books and are working to better promote their online collections and services.
The document discusses library services for teenagers between 12 and 18 years old. It notes that teenagers are heavy media consumers who use multiple platforms and read both online and offline. It emphasizes that serving teenage patrons is a responsibility for all library staff and discusses ways libraries can create engaging experiences and spaces for teens, including through specialized collections, technology centers, and partner programs that teach skills like media production.
This presentation was given at the 23d Annual Conference on Libraries and the Future, sponsored by the Long Island Library Resources Council, October 24, 2014.
Embedded librarians operate in a complex network of relationships: with each other, with vendors of products and services, and most importantly with diverse members of the communities they serve. As their professional lives become centered on these networked relationships, instead of the library, they may find themselves redefining fundamental values and principles of librarianship, including the nature of service, the identity of the library as an institution, and the role of librarians in the community.
Potential of Library 2.0 for research libraries in KenyaTom Kwanya
This document summarizes a research proposal examining how the Library 2.0 model could benefit research libraries in Kenya. The proposal outlines the current challenges facing research libraries in Kenya, such as high expectations, dwindling budgets, and lack of ICT skills. It then discusses the emergence of Library 2.0 as an interactive, collaborative model applying new technologies. While controversial in some aspects, Library 2.0 aims to make libraries more user-centered and participatory. The research will examine how five major research libraries in Kenya currently operate and the potential benefits of adopting Library 2.0 approaches to better serve researchers amid an evolving information landscape.
This document discusses the role of libraries in providing access to ebooks. It notes that libraries are good at selection, collection, organization, and facilitating discovery of resources for communities. However, ebooks present new challenges as users now have personal access to information on smartphones and e-readers. The document explores what ebooks are, their increasing popularity, and how libraries can insert their values like sharing, fair use, and preservation. It suggests libraries experiment with different ebook models and licensing options to maintain their role in advancing knowledge and supporting communities.
1) The document discusses new channels for delivering library content to patrons, including floating collections, consortial borrowing, direct patron delivery, buy on demand, and courier services.
2) It also discusses new forms of digital content like ebooks, audiobooks, and other electronic formats, as well as virtual reference services and using social networking to engage patrons.
3) Examples are provided for each of these new channels and content types that libraries can use to better serve patrons' needs.
This document provides an overview of Library 2.0, which refers to more interactive, collaborative, and community-driven approaches for libraries. It discusses how libraries are adopting Web 2.0 technologies and principles like blogs, wikis, social networking, tagging and more. Examples are given of libraries using these tools on platforms like Flickr, Facebook, and social networking sites to engage users and remain relevant in a changing information landscape. The document advocates that Library 2.0 requires constant change, participation, and empowering users through new services.
This document discusses the changing role of libraries and education in the 21st century due to new technologies and online resources. It notes that social media usage and uploading of content to sites like YouTube and Facebook have increased dramatically. It argues that new literacies are needed to navigate online resources and that education must focus on developing skills like critical thinking, collaboration, creativity and citizenship. The document envisions libraries playing a role in supporting learning across physical and digital spaces and helping students develop these key 21st century skills.
Online and on track: delivering solutions for public library clients now an...PublicLibraryServices
Presented at the LG Web Network We Believe in Community Conference Sydney, 18-19 August, 2011
Opportunities and challenges that digital technology presents for local government and the future of public libraries.
George-Town Library is a digital library that will host educational content such as digital books, audio, videos and games for junior youth. As information seekers need more dynamic electronic resources than just printed materials, the library aims to preserve human culture and integrate emerging technologies. It will source content from its own database, client publishers and authors, and the open internet to provide a unified search experience for users. The library intends to empower junior youth through accessible education and enable information seekers to discern helpful content of most value for their success.
Aaron Miller, CTO of BookGlutton, talks about the history of BookGlutton and social reading, the difference between audience and community, and the new Read Social API, that allows people to create groups and share notes across different reading systems. http://www.readsocialAPI.com
Karen Calhoun gave a presentation at the COBISS Conference on November 12, 2009 about trends in librarianship and metadata management. She discussed how technical services departments are shrinking due to budget cuts and priorities shifting to user services. She also talked about the increasing importance of the virtual library and integrating the catalog with other discovery tools. Finally, she covered how metadata creation has become distributed across libraries and other institutions, requiring new workflows and standards for metadata exchange.
Adaption—The Changing Nature of Libraries (Part 1 of 1), Roger SchonfeldAllen Press
Video of this presentation is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SV58tFYgA2g&index=4&list=PLybpVL27qHff3BVHuNXqYsqTs2e98_MpT
Sometimes survival means being faster, stronger, or smarter. Sometimes it requires flexibility, alertness, and the ability to adapt. Academic libraries are in the midst of a digital transformation, but in this transitional period some real tensions demand strategic nuance. An expert in the changing roles of the library, scholarly publisher, and learned society, keynote speaker Roger Schonfeld will lead us through the three tensions underlying the changing library environment. Each of these tensions is a budgetary tension, and each of them is a systems tension, and for each of them the library would benefit from a more sophisticated engagement by publishers and vendors.
Dissertação da Gabrielle Tanus. Cenário acadêmico-institucional dos cursos de...briquetdelemos
Esta dissertação analisa a influência acadêmico-institucional nos cursos de Arquivologia, Biblioteconomia e Museologia no Brasil, comparando os planos de ensino e as referências citadas nas disciplinas teóricas e por meio de questionário aplicado aos professores destes cursos. A pesquisa agrupou os cursos em seis categorias de acordo com sua proximidade física e identificou a formação acadêmica dos professores para analisar suas influências
Este documento discute la queja común de falta de reconocimiento social en las profesiones de biblioteconomía y documentación. El autor argumenta que sin un compromiso social con problemas y causas importantes, no se puede esperar reconocimiento de la sociedad. Critica a aquellos profesionales que se mantienen alejados de cuestiones políticas y sociales relevantes, y sostiene que la universidad debería fomentar el pensamiento crítico y el compromiso cívico en los estudiantes. Finalmente, celebra las publicaciones que han apoyado causas
Projeto de estudo de usuários biblioteca do Centro de Ciências da Educação - ...daianadelima
Este documento descreve um projeto de estudo de usuários e comunidade sobre a Biblioteca Setorial do Centro de Ciências da Educação da UFSC. O projeto visa analisar a satisfação dos usuários com o acervo, estrutura e serviços da biblioteca por meio de questionários aplicados entre agosto e setembro de 2011.
O documento anuncia o lançamento do livro "Levadas e Quebradas", que contém relatos dinâmicos dos shows e encontros com fãs da banda Capital Inicial durante 30 anos de carreira, ocorrendo no dia 16 de agosto na Livraria de Arte em Brasília.
Evaluating E-Book Offerings discusses the benefits and challenges of eBooks for libraries. It provides an overview of the major ways libraries can purchase eBooks, including through aggregators, publishers, wholesalers and consortia. The presentation also discusses questions libraries should ask vendors and reviews strategies law libraries are taking, such as purchasing directly from publishers, highlighting existing eBook collections, and combining multiple eBook acquisition methods.
E-books are becoming more popular, but their role in public libraries is still controversial. While e-books are mainstream in academic libraries, public libraries represent a small and declining portion of the overall publishing market. Publishers have concerns about business models for public library lending of e-books, as they want a piece of revenue each time a book is borrowed. As a result, restrictions have been placed on e-book lending from public libraries.
The document summarizes key findings from the 2010 OCLC report "Perceptions of Libraries." It finds that while most Americans use online resources like search engines and social media, libraries still play an important role in providing free services and materials. Younger groups have integrated new technologies into their daily lives more than older groups, but all groups are increasing their use of digital information sources. The recession has increased reliance on libraries for those economically impacted. Libraries are seen as more than just physical spaces for books and are working to better promote their online collections and services.
The document discusses library services for teenagers between 12 and 18 years old. It notes that teenagers are heavy media consumers who use multiple platforms and read both online and offline. It emphasizes that serving teenage patrons is a responsibility for all library staff and discusses ways libraries can create engaging experiences and spaces for teens, including through specialized collections, technology centers, and partner programs that teach skills like media production.
This presentation was given at the 23d Annual Conference on Libraries and the Future, sponsored by the Long Island Library Resources Council, October 24, 2014.
Embedded librarians operate in a complex network of relationships: with each other, with vendors of products and services, and most importantly with diverse members of the communities they serve. As their professional lives become centered on these networked relationships, instead of the library, they may find themselves redefining fundamental values and principles of librarianship, including the nature of service, the identity of the library as an institution, and the role of librarians in the community.
Potential of Library 2.0 for research libraries in KenyaTom Kwanya
This document summarizes a research proposal examining how the Library 2.0 model could benefit research libraries in Kenya. The proposal outlines the current challenges facing research libraries in Kenya, such as high expectations, dwindling budgets, and lack of ICT skills. It then discusses the emergence of Library 2.0 as an interactive, collaborative model applying new technologies. While controversial in some aspects, Library 2.0 aims to make libraries more user-centered and participatory. The research will examine how five major research libraries in Kenya currently operate and the potential benefits of adopting Library 2.0 approaches to better serve researchers amid an evolving information landscape.
This document discusses the role of libraries in providing access to ebooks. It notes that libraries are good at selection, collection, organization, and facilitating discovery of resources for communities. However, ebooks present new challenges as users now have personal access to information on smartphones and e-readers. The document explores what ebooks are, their increasing popularity, and how libraries can insert their values like sharing, fair use, and preservation. It suggests libraries experiment with different ebook models and licensing options to maintain their role in advancing knowledge and supporting communities.
1) The document discusses new channels for delivering library content to patrons, including floating collections, consortial borrowing, direct patron delivery, buy on demand, and courier services.
2) It also discusses new forms of digital content like ebooks, audiobooks, and other electronic formats, as well as virtual reference services and using social networking to engage patrons.
3) Examples are provided for each of these new channels and content types that libraries can use to better serve patrons' needs.
This document provides an overview of Library 2.0, which refers to more interactive, collaborative, and community-driven approaches for libraries. It discusses how libraries are adopting Web 2.0 technologies and principles like blogs, wikis, social networking, tagging and more. Examples are given of libraries using these tools on platforms like Flickr, Facebook, and social networking sites to engage users and remain relevant in a changing information landscape. The document advocates that Library 2.0 requires constant change, participation, and empowering users through new services.
This document discusses the changing role of libraries and education in the 21st century due to new technologies and online resources. It notes that social media usage and uploading of content to sites like YouTube and Facebook have increased dramatically. It argues that new literacies are needed to navigate online resources and that education must focus on developing skills like critical thinking, collaboration, creativity and citizenship. The document envisions libraries playing a role in supporting learning across physical and digital spaces and helping students develop these key 21st century skills.
Online and on track: delivering solutions for public library clients now an...PublicLibraryServices
Presented at the LG Web Network We Believe in Community Conference Sydney, 18-19 August, 2011
Opportunities and challenges that digital technology presents for local government and the future of public libraries.
George-Town Library is a digital library that will host educational content such as digital books, audio, videos and games for junior youth. As information seekers need more dynamic electronic resources than just printed materials, the library aims to preserve human culture and integrate emerging technologies. It will source content from its own database, client publishers and authors, and the open internet to provide a unified search experience for users. The library intends to empower junior youth through accessible education and enable information seekers to discern helpful content of most value for their success.
Aaron Miller, CTO of BookGlutton, talks about the history of BookGlutton and social reading, the difference between audience and community, and the new Read Social API, that allows people to create groups and share notes across different reading systems. http://www.readsocialAPI.com
Karen Calhoun gave a presentation at the COBISS Conference on November 12, 2009 about trends in librarianship and metadata management. She discussed how technical services departments are shrinking due to budget cuts and priorities shifting to user services. She also talked about the increasing importance of the virtual library and integrating the catalog with other discovery tools. Finally, she covered how metadata creation has become distributed across libraries and other institutions, requiring new workflows and standards for metadata exchange.
Adaption—The Changing Nature of Libraries (Part 1 of 1), Roger SchonfeldAllen Press
Video of this presentation is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SV58tFYgA2g&index=4&list=PLybpVL27qHff3BVHuNXqYsqTs2e98_MpT
Sometimes survival means being faster, stronger, or smarter. Sometimes it requires flexibility, alertness, and the ability to adapt. Academic libraries are in the midst of a digital transformation, but in this transitional period some real tensions demand strategic nuance. An expert in the changing roles of the library, scholarly publisher, and learned society, keynote speaker Roger Schonfeld will lead us through the three tensions underlying the changing library environment. Each of these tensions is a budgetary tension, and each of them is a systems tension, and for each of them the library would benefit from a more sophisticated engagement by publishers and vendors.
Dissertação da Gabrielle Tanus. Cenário acadêmico-institucional dos cursos de...briquetdelemos
Esta dissertação analisa a influência acadêmico-institucional nos cursos de Arquivologia, Biblioteconomia e Museologia no Brasil, comparando os planos de ensino e as referências citadas nas disciplinas teóricas e por meio de questionário aplicado aos professores destes cursos. A pesquisa agrupou os cursos em seis categorias de acordo com sua proximidade física e identificou a formação acadêmica dos professores para analisar suas influências
Este documento discute la queja común de falta de reconocimiento social en las profesiones de biblioteconomía y documentación. El autor argumenta que sin un compromiso social con problemas y causas importantes, no se puede esperar reconocimiento de la sociedad. Critica a aquellos profesionales que se mantienen alejados de cuestiones políticas y sociales relevantes, y sostiene que la universidad debería fomentar el pensamiento crítico y el compromiso cívico en los estudiantes. Finalmente, celebra las publicaciones que han apoyado causas
Projeto de estudo de usuários biblioteca do Centro de Ciências da Educação - ...daianadelima
Este documento descreve um projeto de estudo de usuários e comunidade sobre a Biblioteca Setorial do Centro de Ciências da Educação da UFSC. O projeto visa analisar a satisfação dos usuários com o acervo, estrutura e serviços da biblioteca por meio de questionários aplicados entre agosto e setembro de 2011.
O documento anuncia o lançamento do livro "Levadas e Quebradas", que contém relatos dinâmicos dos shows e encontros com fãs da banda Capital Inicial durante 30 anos de carreira, ocorrendo no dia 16 de agosto na Livraria de Arte em Brasília.
O documento anuncia o lançamento do livro "Levadas e Quebradas" do escritor Fê no dia 19 de setembro na Livraria da Travessa no Shopping Leblon. O texto também celebra os 30 anos da banda Capital Inicial e resume o conteúdo do livro como relatos dinâmicos dos shows, encontros com fãs e andanças da banda nas cidades.
32 Ways a Digital Marketing Consultant Can Help Grow Your BusinessBarry Feldman
How can a digital marketing consultant help your business? In this resource we'll count the ways. 24 additional marketing resources are bundled for free.
The document discusses bookless libraries, which offer digital collections instead of printed books. It provides examples of major research libraries that have transitioned to being fully digital. While modernization and space savings are benefits, challenges include public attachment to print and limited digital content availability. The future of libraries is trending digital as storage capacity grows, but archiving solutions are still needed to ensure long-term access.
ABSTRACT : A digital is an organized collection of electronic resources. Digital library is a very complex and dynamic entity. It has brought phenomenal change in information collection, preservation and dissemination scene of the world. It is complex entity because it completely based on ICT systems. A distinction is often made between content that was created in a digital format, known as born-digital, and information that has been converted from a physical medium, e.g. paper, by digitizing. It should also be noted that not all electronic content is in digital data format. The term hybrid library is sometimes used for libraries that have both physical collections and electronic collections for example: American Memory is a digital library within the Library of Congress.
The Relevance of Geospatial Data as a Prerequisite in Obtaining Knowledge and...iosrjce
IOSR Journal of Environmental Science, Toxicology and Food Technology (IOSR-JESTFT) multidisciplinary peer-reviewed Journal with reputable academics and experts as board member. IOSR-JESTFT is designed for the prompt publication of peer-reviewed articles in all areas of subject. The journal articles will be accessed freely online.
The document discusses the changing relationship between authors, publishers, and readers in the digital era. It notes that while print has been dominant for over 500 years, e-books are now revolutionizing the publishing industry. However, e-books do not threaten print and both can co-exist. The transition to digital has raised debates around what constitutes an e-book and copyright issues. UNESCO aims to address these debates and ensure reading material is available to more people through initiatives like a World Forum on culture and industries in June 2012.
The document discusses digital libraries, defining them as collections of digitized materials including books, articles, and other documents that are accessible online through computer networks. It notes key benefits of digital libraries like increased access for users anytime from anywhere, lower costs compared to physical libraries, and preservation of fragile materials by allowing multiple simultaneous users. However, the document also outlines several challenges in creating effective digital libraries, such as developing technologies for digitizing analog materials, addressing copyright and licensing issues, and establishing standards and protocols to facilitate assembling distributed digital library collections from various sources.
Tonta World Is Flat Yet Not Open Oslo Workshop 10 May 2006 Final RevisedYasar Tonta
The document discusses how the world has become "flatter" due to technologies like the Internet that have increased global connections and access to information. However, it notes that while the world is connected, much information remains closed off unless it is openly accessible. It advocates for open access to research and publications, which could help "flatten" the information world by making more resources freely available online. This could drive innovation and economic benefits. Libraries need to provide more open access content and services online to remain relevant to users who increasingly begin searches on the open web rather than within library systems.
Connecting the ‘long tails’ of content and usersprj_publication
Academic libraries hold unexplored resources ("long tail" of content) and serve niche users not reached through traditional means. Social media can connect these long tails by allowing libraries to package obscure content and map niche users on social media platforms. Libraries can identify relevant unexplored content, analyze its value, tag it for searchability, and share on social networks. They can also understand users' interests, map what social media they use, and create profiles to connect enriched content with prospective niche users. This helps academic libraries better serve users not served through traditional channels.
The document summarizes key points from a workshop on eBooks held at UCD Library. It discusses developments in eBooks, findings from eBook research projects like SuperBook and the JISC National eBooks Observatory, and survey results about student and faculty use and perceptions of eBooks. Key themes included the impact of eBooks on libraries, varying use by subject and age, and how reading behaviors are changing in the digital environment.
This document provides an overview of the evolution of digital resource centers and libraries. It discusses the transition from traditional paper-based libraries to digital libraries and resource centers. Key points covered include the benefits of online public access catalogs (OPACs) and CD-ROMs, the impact of the internet and web technology, definitions of digital libraries, and characteristics of digital libraries such as providing access to distributed information and ability to handle multilingual content. The document also defines what a school resource center is and its objectives to serve the school community.
This document provides an overview of the evolution of digital resource centers and libraries. It discusses the transition from traditional paper-based libraries to digital libraries and resource centers. Key points covered include the benefits of online public access catalogs (OPACs) and CD-ROMs, the impact of the internet and web technology, definitions of digital libraries, and characteristics of digital libraries such as providing access to distributed information and ability to handle multilingual content. The document also defines what a school resource center is and its objectives of serving the school community.
This policy brief discusses strategic visions for the future of public libraries in the 21st century. It outlines four dimensions along which libraries can make strategic choices to confront challenges and opportunities: (1) physical to virtual presence, (2) focus on individual users versus community, (3) role as a collection versus enabling creation of content, and (4) functioning as a portal to information versus archiving information. The brief does not recommend particular visions, but suggests libraries determine their own strategic choices based on these dimensions and their specific situations to best serve patrons and communities.
From local infrastructure to engagement - thinking about the library in the l...lisld
Libraries are rebalancing services and directions so that they are more active in the lives of their users. This presentation frames this discussion. It looks at shifts in user behaviours, collections, and spaces, and describes how OCLC Reseach is helping libraries make these transitions.
This presentation was given at the Minitex ILL Meeting in St Paul on 12 May 2015.
We used to think of the user in the life of the library. Now we think of the library in the life of the user. As behaviors change in a network environment, we have seen growing interest in ethnographic and user-centered design approaches. This presentation introduces this topic. It also explores changes in how we manage collections as an illustration of this shift towards thinking of the library in the life of the user.
Terence K. Huwe
Institute for Research on Labor and Employment Library
University of California, Berkeley
Long Island Library Resources Council
October 30, 2009
Electronic publishing (or e-publishing) involves the digital publication and distribution of books, magazines, journals and other media online. It has become common in academic publishing where journals are increasingly made available electronically. The document traces the history of e-publishing from its origins in the 1980s with plain text emails sent to subscribers, to the growth of digital libraries and online publishing enabled by the internet and technologies like CD-ROMs and PDFs. It discusses both the advantages of e-publishing such as rapid publication and global access, as well as challenges around issues of piracy, copyright and user preferences for print.
This presentation was provided by Jane Burke of ProQuest and Serials Solutions, during the NISO/BISG 4th Annual Forum: The Changing Standards Landscape, held on June 25, 2010.
This document discusses views on digital libraries and compares traditional libraries to digital libraries. It defines a digital library as a library where resources are available in digital format rather than print. Digital libraries allow for faster addition and access to information as well as improved search functionality. However, they must still provide a familiar model of library services. The document also outlines 10 dimensions for exploring differences between traditional and digital libraries, such as object structure, access control, and types of searching.
Collection Directions - Research collections in the network environmentConstance Malpas
1. The document discusses trends in research collections in the networked environment and directions for collections.
2. Key trends include collections as a service across a spectrum from owned to borrowed, workflow becoming the new content as researchers organize around different systems and services, and a shift from curation to creation as libraries take on new roles in research lifecycles.
3. Collection directions involve right-scaling stewardship through shared print collections and partnerships for coordination, and positioning libraries as experts that support the full research process.
Main Java[All of the Base Concepts}.docxadhitya5119
This is part 1 of my Java Learning Journey. This Contains Custom methods, classes, constructors, packages, multithreading , try- catch block, finally block and more.
Physiology and chemistry of skin and pigmentation, hairs, scalp, lips and nail, Cleansing cream, Lotions, Face powders, Face packs, Lipsticks, Bath products, soaps and baby product,
Preparation and standardization of the following : Tonic, Bleaches, Dentifrices and Mouth washes & Tooth Pastes, Cosmetics for Nails.
हिंदी वर्णमाला पीपीटी, hindi alphabet PPT presentation, hindi varnamala PPT, Hindi Varnamala pdf, हिंदी स्वर, हिंदी व्यंजन, sikhiye hindi varnmala, dr. mulla adam ali, hindi language and literature, hindi alphabet with drawing, hindi alphabet pdf, hindi varnamala for childrens, hindi language, hindi varnamala practice for kids, https://www.drmullaadamali.com
A review of the growth of the Israel Genealogy Research Association Database Collection for the last 12 months. Our collection is now passed the 3 million mark and still growing. See which archives have contributed the most. See the different types of records we have, and which years have had records added. You can also see what we have for the future.
A Strategic Approach: GenAI in EducationPeter Windle
Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies such as Generative AI, Image Generators and Large Language Models have had a dramatic impact on teaching, learning and assessment over the past 18 months. The most immediate threat AI posed was to Academic Integrity with Higher Education Institutes (HEIs) focusing their efforts on combating the use of GenAI in assessment. Guidelines were developed for staff and students, policies put in place too. Innovative educators have forged paths in the use of Generative AI for teaching, learning and assessments leading to pockets of transformation springing up across HEIs, often with little or no top-down guidance, support or direction.
This Gasta posits a strategic approach to integrating AI into HEIs to prepare staff, students and the curriculum for an evolving world and workplace. We will highlight the advantages of working with these technologies beyond the realm of teaching, learning and assessment by considering prompt engineering skills, industry impact, curriculum changes, and the need for staff upskilling. In contrast, not engaging strategically with Generative AI poses risks, including falling behind peers, missed opportunities and failing to ensure our graduates remain employable. The rapid evolution of AI technologies necessitates a proactive and strategic approach if we are to remain relevant.
বাংলাদেশের অর্থনৈতিক সমীক্ষা ২০২৪ [Bangladesh Economic Review 2024 Bangla.pdf] কম্পিউটার , ট্যাব ও স্মার্ট ফোন ভার্সন সহ সম্পূর্ণ বাংলা ই-বুক বা pdf বই " সুচিপত্র ...বুকমার্ক মেনু 🔖 ও হাইপার লিংক মেনু 📝👆 যুক্ত ..
আমাদের সবার জন্য খুব খুব গুরুত্বপূর্ণ একটি বই ..বিসিএস, ব্যাংক, ইউনিভার্সিটি ভর্তি ও যে কোন প্রতিযোগিতা মূলক পরীক্ষার জন্য এর খুব ইম্পরট্যান্ট একটি বিষয় ...তাছাড়া বাংলাদেশের সাম্প্রতিক যে কোন ডাটা বা তথ্য এই বইতে পাবেন ...
তাই একজন নাগরিক হিসাবে এই তথ্য গুলো আপনার জানা প্রয়োজন ...।
বিসিএস ও ব্যাংক এর লিখিত পরীক্ষা ...+এছাড়া মাধ্যমিক ও উচ্চমাধ্যমিকের স্টুডেন্টদের জন্য অনেক কাজে আসবে ...
This presentation was provided by Steph Pollock of The American Psychological Association’s Journals Program, and Damita Snow, of The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), for the initial session of NISO's 2024 Training Series "DEIA in the Scholarly Landscape." Session One: 'Setting Expectations: a DEIA Primer,' was held June 6, 2024.
How to Manage Your Lost Opportunities in Odoo 17 CRMCeline George
Odoo 17 CRM allows us to track why we lose sales opportunities with "Lost Reasons." This helps analyze our sales process and identify areas for improvement. Here's how to configure lost reasons in Odoo 17 CRM
ISO/IEC 27001, ISO/IEC 42001, and GDPR: Best Practices for Implementation and...PECB
Denis is a dynamic and results-driven Chief Information Officer (CIO) with a distinguished career spanning information systems analysis and technical project management. With a proven track record of spearheading the design and delivery of cutting-edge Information Management solutions, he has consistently elevated business operations, streamlined reporting functions, and maximized process efficiency.
Certified as an ISO/IEC 27001: Information Security Management Systems (ISMS) Lead Implementer, Data Protection Officer, and Cyber Risks Analyst, Denis brings a heightened focus on data security, privacy, and cyber resilience to every endeavor.
His expertise extends across a diverse spectrum of reporting, database, and web development applications, underpinned by an exceptional grasp of data storage and virtualization technologies. His proficiency in application testing, database administration, and data cleansing ensures seamless execution of complex projects.
What sets Denis apart is his comprehensive understanding of Business and Systems Analysis technologies, honed through involvement in all phases of the Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC). From meticulous requirements gathering to precise analysis, innovative design, rigorous development, thorough testing, and successful implementation, he has consistently delivered exceptional results.
Throughout his career, he has taken on multifaceted roles, from leading technical project management teams to owning solutions that drive operational excellence. His conscientious and proactive approach is unwavering, whether he is working independently or collaboratively within a team. His ability to connect with colleagues on a personal level underscores his commitment to fostering a harmonious and productive workplace environment.
Date: May 29, 2024
Tags: Information Security, ISO/IEC 27001, ISO/IEC 42001, Artificial Intelligence, GDPR
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How to Add Chatter in the odoo 17 ERP ModuleCeline George
In Odoo, the chatter is like a chat tool that helps you work together on records. You can leave notes and track things, making it easier to talk with your team and partners. Inside chatter, all communication history, activity, and changes will be displayed.
Exploiting Artificial Intelligence for Empowering Researchers and Faculty, In...Dr. Vinod Kumar Kanvaria
Exploiting Artificial Intelligence for Empowering Researchers and Faculty,
International FDP on Fundamentals of Research in Social Sciences
at Integral University, Lucknow, 06.06.2024
By Dr. Vinod Kumar Kanvaria
Exploiting Artificial Intelligence for Empowering Researchers and Faculty, In...
Sr briefing paper_anderson
1. CAN’T BUY US LOVE
The Declining Importance of Library Books and the Rising Importance of Special Collections
RICK ANDERSON
Interim Dean & University Librarian, J. Willard Marriott Library, University of Utah
2. Research libraries throughout North America are experiencing a massive decline in the
use of their general collections1
—their large and comprehensive collections of printed
books and journal volumes purchased in the commercial marketplace. This decline is the
inevitable outcome of a massive shift in scholarly publishing from an analog and print-
based model to a digital and networked one. In this environment, it is no longer obvious
that it makes sense for research libraries to continue their traditional practice of creating,
housing, and maintaining such collections. In this paper, I will propose that we shift
our focus from the collection of what we might call “commodity” documents (especially
in physical formats) to another activity in which we have also been engaging for many
centuries: the gathering and curating of rare and unique documents, including primary-
source materials.
For centuries, readers and researchers have relied on academic libraries to provide
them with access to books that are sold (or access to which is sold) in the commercial
marketplace. Patrons relied on libraries to solve what were essentially problems of market
inefficiency: books were expensive physical objects that cost a lot to create, move,
organize, and maintain. Since books were expensive, no one could buy all the books he or
she needed, and since they were bulky and heavy and fragile and prone to loss, the cost
of housing and caring for large collections of books was prohibitive even if the cost of
buying them was not. By pooling institutional resources, research libraries made access to
these expensive resources available, on a shared basis, to all in their host institutions, and
undertook their housing and preservation as well.
The same thing has remained true even after scholarly communication moved largely out
of the physical and analog environment and into a networked and digital environment:
access to online journals (which are used far more heavily than monographs, especially
printed monographs, in research libraries) and ebooks remains very expensive, even
though the costs of processing and “housing” online documents is dramatically lower. This
has meant that throughout much of the 1990s and early 2000s the role of the research
library as a broker (buying access on behalf of a large community of users), a curator
(ensuring that access endures), and an organizer (making resources easier to find and
use) remained important even as the acquisition and housing of research content moved
substantially into a virtual environment.
However, during the past two decades the networked digital environment has done more
than just become the default locus of scholarly communication. It has done three other
things as well.
1. It has made the market for “commodity” books much more efficient, driving the price
of books down. By “price,” I do not mean average list price—which has remained
relatively stable over time2
—but rather the actual amount of money typically paid for a
copy of a book. In the past, if one wanted to buy a book, the cheapest option available
was the cheapest local option: if the lowest price in a nearby bookstore was $20, that
was the best deal most buyers could hope for. With the advent of such internet-based
outlets as Amazon Marketplace and Bookfinder.com, however, every home with an
internet connection has direct access to the holdings of thousands and thousands
of bookstores around the world, and the likelihood of finding a remaindered or used
copy—often at a price of literally pennies, plus a few dollars in shipping—is very
high. Prior to 1995, a library had to be careful not to lose its 1975 printing of, say,
Steinbeck’s East of Eden, and had to take good care of that copy lest it fall to pieces
from decay or use. In 2013, the loss of the library’s physical copy of a commodity
book has little if any impact on its patrons’ access to that book. As of this writing,
replacement copies of East of Eden can be had from more than a hundred online
Introduction
The radical
shift is not the
format shift
1
Rick Anderson,
“Print on the Margins: Circulation Trends
in Major Research Libraries,”
Library Journal 136 (2011): 38-39.
2
Brent Cox,
“How Much More Do Books Cost Today?,”
The Awl (2011), accessed June 14, 2013,
http://www.theawl.com/2011/12/how-
much-more-do-books-cost-today
1
3. booksellers at a cost of one dollar or less, plus shipping. This means not only that the
library can afford to take less scrupulous care of its existing copy, but also—and much
more importantly—that the library’s patrons simply no longer depend on the library
for access to that book in the way they once did.
2. The new information environment has greatly reduced the cost of information
distribution, making it much easier for scholars to share documents (such as
articles that they or others have written) with each other. New technology has also
made it possible to digitize and make publicly available an enormous corpus of
public-domain books—physical copies of which still cost money in the commercial
marketplace, and which of course also cost money to house and care for. Online
aggregations like Google Books and HathiTrust, by putting digital copies of public-
domain titles into a publicly available online database, have effectively obviated the
need for most libraries to hold physical copies of those books. By joining HathiTrust
in 2010 and thus gaining full-text access (along with full download rights) to that
collection’s 3.3 million public-domain books, the research library in which I work
effectively doubled the size of its book collection—and at a trivial cost. Costs of
distribution should not be confused with costs of publication; however, the ease with
which documents may now be distributed after (or before) publication means that
scholars no longer rely on libraries for access to those documents in the way they
once did. Professors whose libraries do not subscribe to the journal containing a
needed article would once have argued strenuously for a subscription or requested
a copy via interlibrary loan; today, they are just as likely to contact the article’s
author directly and request a copy by email, in many cases receiving a positive
response within hours or even minutes. This is admittedly not a terribly efficient way
to get access to journal articles, and the pressure on libraries to maintain strong
subscription lists remains great. But the fact that such an informal acquisition
network now exists leads to the third impact that a pervasively networked digital
information environment has had on the scholarly communication system:
3. It has made possible the Open Access (OA) movement, which could never have existed
in a print-based information environment. The movement’s success to this point
has relied, in part, on the widely held perception that the digital environment has
virtually eliminated publication costs, in part on assertions about what the public
pays for when it funds scientific research, and in part on the undeniable fact that once
a document has been placed on the network, the cost of creating and distributing
an additional copy of that document falls to virtually nothing. The degree to which
institutional or governmental OA policies, combined with publishers’ adoption
of author-pays OA models, will succeed at turning what were once commodity
documents into effectively public property remains to be seen, but the movement’s
success has been considerable so far and it continues to grow. (Although, at this
point, it applies almost entirely to the scholarly and scientific journal marketplace and
not to books.)
What makes these three developments significant for the future of libraries is that,
together, they point to a single, potentially transformative reality.
When, in the 1990s, it became clear that the scholarly communication system was moving
almost entirely out of the print realm and onto a worldwide digital network, we in libraries
immediately began dealing with this development as a format shift: whereas we had
been brokers, curators, and organizers of print collections, we now prepared ourselves
to become brokers, curators, and organizers of online collections. We focused on what
this shift would mean for our workflows, for patron access, for privacy, for preservation,
Focusing on the
wrong shift
2
4. and for our traditional discovery tools. Much ink was spilled and many trees killed as
we argued about how best to address and adjust to these changes—but in general, I
believe we have made that adjustment quite well. The typical research library does an
admirable job of making enormous amounts of relevant and high-quality information
available with reasonable ease to its patrons in a variety of formats, and has created a new
superstructure of services designed to ensure reasonable permanence of access where
such is needed. We have established buying consortia to give our budgets extra leverage
and to create economies of scale, and have built tools to make management of online
resources more effective and more cost-efficient. Our response to the print-to-online shift
has not been perfect, but we have generally been successful at turning ourselves from
brokers, curators, and organizers of print materials into brokers, curators, and organizers
of online digital materials.
However, during these past two decades of radical change and energetic response, I
believe we have missed a much more important shift, one that poses a more direct and
existential threat than the one posed by the move from print to online. We have failed to
prepare for the emergence of a reality in which our very role as brokers, curators, and
organizers has itself been fundamentally undermined.
In other words, the gap that should most concern us in research libraries today is
not the one that lies between physical and online documents, but the one that lies
between commodity and non-commodity documents. The library’s important role as
a broker arose largely because of the many inherent inefficiencies of a print-based
information marketplace. Today’s more efficient online marketplace features much lower
prices and much lower barriers to personal collection-building, a pervasive full-text
searching capability that makes traditional cataloging less obviously necessary, and
widely distributed storage and access points that undermine traditional approaches to
preservation and curation. This new reality affects commodity documents no matter the
format, though its impact is most obvious in the book marketplace—particularly the
market for trade books that are produced in large print runs. (It is less the case in the
journal economy, where there is no appreciable secondary market, and therefore quickly
rising subscription prices pose a much higher barrier to individual access.) The bottom
line is that libraries are no longer needed in the way they once were to provide access to
documents that are available in the commercial marketplace.
If the library’s role as a broker, curator, and organizer of commodity documents is fading,
what significant roles remain?
Virtually every academic library is really two very different organizations housed in a
single building and united by an artificial administrative connection. The first library, the
one everyone sees, is that which manages a collection of commodity documents, in both
print and online formats. The library imposes less control on this collection, allowing
its contents to be used without supervision; this is because the materials in the general
collection tend not to be unique or even rare, and can usually be repaired or replaced
without any loss of value to the patron. The second is the library that we typically call
Special Collections. Materials in Special Collections are typically much more tightly
controlled, because they are not easily replaced and physical repair might significantly
reduce their value. A library that acquires a copy of Andreas Cellarius’ 17th-century
Harmonia Macrocosmica is not doing so because that document will provide the astronomy
faculty good information about the solar system, or even to show what 17th-century
scientists believed about the solar system (which could be accomplished much more
cheaply and conveniently with a transcription or a facsimile copy). It is doing so in order
to preserve and provide carefully controlled access to a beautiful and rare document the
The Janus-faced library
3
From Andreas Cellarius
Harmonia Macrocosmica
5. value of which has as much to do with illuminating the history of binding and printing as
the history of science.
Thus, whereas the main library buys documents primarily because of their curricular
relevance and instrumental value, Special Collections is often more interested in
documents as artifacts that are valuable in and of themselves, independent of the
immediate relevance or utility of the words and ideas they contain—documents which, in a
great many cases, are rare or fragile enough to be in serious danger of loss without special
care. Thus, a mass-market 1975 printing of East of Eden will be shelved in a public area
of the library, where patrons may take it down and peruse it at will and even take it home
with the promise eventually to return it; if the book falls apart, it will likely not be repaired,
but rather replaced—perhaps even with a different edition. In the circulating collection, the
content matters much more than the container. Special Collections, on the other hand, is
more likely to hold a signed first edition of that same book, which will be made available
for use by patrons only under supervision and in a tightly controlled environment. Under
no circumstances will a patron be allowed to remove that item from the library. If it is
damaged, replacement would be extremely difficult and repair costly; in the case of unique
materials, replacement would be simply impossible. In Special Collections the content
matters, but the container often matters more.
The rare and unique materials held by Special Collections are, in other words, not
commodity documents. While they may be bought and sold in a marketplace, it is a highly
specialized marketplace with a unique structure and unique rules. It is not Amazon, and
most members of the general public do not have ready access to it. In quite a few cases,
in fact, the materials held by a research library’s Special Collections are not purchased by
the library at all, but are given to the library by donors working outside the commercial
marketplace entirely.
It is the opportunities inherent in this distinction—the distinction between commodity
documents and non-commodity documents—that I believe will bear heavily on the future
utility and health of the academic research library. The print/online dichotomy is no longer
a terribly meaningful one, and indeed it may have been a red herring from the start, mere
camouflage for the real shift that was happening, which was a dramatic increase in the
efficiency of the marketplace for commodity documents. As the market in those documents
continues to grow in efficiency, and as unassisted discovery of those documents continues
to become easier and easier, many of the academic library’s traditional roles are moving
to the margins of the research experience. In short, very few academic patrons truly rely
on their library to buy, process, describe, and preserve a 1975 printing of East of Eden.
However, if that library’s Special Collections owns a handwritten poem by a 9th-century
Arab poet, or a handwritten journal from a Civil War combattant, and fails to curate that
item, the entire world (not just the library’s local constituency) suffers—particularly in
situations where the library is holding a collection on behalf of a community which lacks a
strong archiving or publishing infrastructure of its own.
What, then, does curating such a document entail? In the past, it meant keeping the
document in a tightly controlled protective environment and drastically restricting access
to it. In today’s environment, it means doing the same—but much, much more as well.
What the world needs research libraries to do now—and this need is both powerful
and growing—is provide broad and easy access to the intellectual content of rare
and unique non-commodity documents that would otherwise remain unfindable and
unusable. This means:
The distinction
that will shape
our future
4
6. 1. Acquiring them. Rare and unique documents held by private collectors, or languishing
unknown in archives and basements, do the world of scholarship very little good.
Libraries have money to spend on documents, and need to direct more of that money
away from the purchase of commodity documents that are already relatively freely
and easily available to the public and toward the acquisition of documents that, unless
they are held by libraries, will not be made available to scholars in any meaningful
way.
2. Digitizing them. A library that owns a rare or unique book and simply keeps it locked
up is doing the world no greater service than a private collector who does the same.
While physical access will generally have to be restricted in order to preserve the
document, access to the words, ideas, and images contained in the document can
and should be made available as widely as possible. This can be done most effectively
by creating high-resolution images of those contents and disseminating the images
online.
3. Making them discoverable. Access is not only limited by format, policy, and practice;
it is also limited by findability. What makes documents findable is good metadata
(including, as needed, transcription and/or translation), organized and optimized to
expose itself promiscuously to popular search engines. A document that cannot be
found is, for all intents and purposes, nonexistent.
There is a potentially serious barrier for any library that wishes to move aggressively in
the direction I have described: that barrier is the mission of its host institution. For a major
research library to suddenly and unilaterally redirect, say, 50% of its collections budget to
the acquisition and processing of rare and unique materials would be both irresponsible
and unwise. We must bear in mind that while such materials will, in many cases, offer
tremendous value to the wider world of scholarship, and while in some cases it may be
possible (and even tremendously beneficial) to incorporate those materials into the local
curriculum, rare and unique documents may not always provide direct support to the most
centrally important mission elements and strategic directions of any individual library’s
host institution.
This implies several important realities.
1. Every research library must strike the right balance between benefiting the larger
world of scholarship and supporting its institution’s specific teaching and learning and
research goals. If it fails to do so, it will lose the support of its host—and rightly so.
Furthermore, what constitutes the right balance should (and, in the long run, will) be
determined by the host institution, not by the library.
2. Most of the people served by a research library spend little or no time thinking
about the difference between commodity and non-commodity documents, and may
be only peripherally aware of the tremendous changes that have taken place in the
scholarly communication economy. In order to gain support for some degree of shift
in priorities away from traditional commodity documents and towards non-commodity
ones, librarians will have to explain clearly, concisely, and compellingly why such a
shift makes sense and how it will be beneficial in terms of both local and broader
public good. Support for the shift will be determined by a combination of high-level
institutional buy-in and general acceptance of the explanation by the library’s on-the-
ground patron constituency.
3. For most libraries, the shift will have to be gradual. Key to success will be enacting the
Uniqueness and mission
5
7. shift in a steady, realistic, and wholly transparent manner. The appropriate speed and
trajectory of the shift will vary from library to library, and will have to be determined in
consultation with institutional administrators. At all points, it will have to be enacted in
an open and transparent way.
The qualifying language in each of the above points is absolutely essential. It is a hard
truth, but true nevertheless, that an academic library does not (and should not) define its
own role on campus. It can (and should) actively contribute to the shaping of its role, and
library leaders absolutely must both develop and promulgate an expansive and ambitious
vision. But veto power lies with the leadership of the host institution. The academic library
exists to move the university forward, not vice versa. Library leaders who lose sight of this
fundamental fact will eventually lose their jobs, and rightly so.
There is an ancillary but significant benefit to shifting the focus from commodity to
non-commodity documents. The politics and economics of scholarly communication
are increasingly fraught. Publishers (both for-profit and not-for-profit) working in the
commercial marketplace defend their revenue streams; libraries fight to keep prices
down; authors submit their manuscripts to the publications most likely to help them
secure prestige and tenure while (for the most part) trying to stay out of the skirmishes
constantly breaking out between publishers and libraries; and readers either get access
to scholarly publications or do not, depending on their institutional affiliations or their
personal buying power.
Over the past two decades, librarians have grown increasingly frustrated with the
existing scholarly communication system, calling on each other to create an alternative,
noncommercial structure based in the academy3
rather than the marketplace, and calling
on authors to stop supporting the old one. But the traditional system exerts a very
powerful gravity—so powerful, in fact, that even when OA models have taken hold and
begun to flourish, they have generally been absorbed into the traditional system rather
than subverting it. The so-called Gold OA model4
(the one that has been willingly adopted
by many STM publishers and functionally enshrined in national policy thanks to the UK’s
Finch Report5
) does not undermine the old system so much as enrich it, and while it does
result in better access for readers, it also shifts costs to funding agencies and research
budgets—and thus away from the support of research itself. Whether one sees this as a
good thing or a bad thing on balance depends on one’s perspective and goals. Those who
were hoping that OA would put commercial science publishers out of business can only be
disappointed by such developments, whereas those for whom expanded access is most
important have reason to be happy about them.
But a shift in focus from the brokerage of commodity documents to the gathering,
processing, management, and wide distribution of non-commodity documents allows
us to sidestep the whole Open-Access-versus-toll-access controversy. Non-commodity
documents are, by definition, not for sale—or at least not in the same way that commodity
documents are. A library that shifts a portion of its budget and staff time in the direction
of making noncommercial documents more findable and accessible is neither undermining
the existing scholarly communication system (except to the extent that it pulls collections
money away from commercial purchases) nor supporting it. Instead, it is contributing
to a separate system, one that feeds the scholarly conversation without exerting control
over it—the non-commodity information environment supports scholars without either
restricting access to the documents (as the toll-access commodity model does) or
constraining authors’ publication options (as OA mandates do).
Opting out of the scholarly
communication wars
3
“LPC Project Background,”
Educopia Institute,
accessed June 18, 2013,
http://www.educopia.org/programs/lpc.
4
Wikipedia contributors, “Open Access,”
Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia,
accessed June 14, 2013,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_access.
5
“Finch Report,”
Research Information Network, accessed
June 14, 2013,
http://www.researchinfonet.org/publish/finch.
6
8. Allow me to close with an illustration.
The research library in which I work, at the University of Utah, holds in its special
collections a number of handwritten diaries produced by 19th-century pioneers who
came west on the Overland Trail. These documents are unique and fragile, and therefore
not suitable for circulation or lending, and physical access to them can be granted to
researchers only under tightly controlled conditions. They are handwritten in often hard-
to-read script, and therefore need transcription in order to make their texts machine-
readable and electronically searchable. In addition to full-text transcription, making them
discoverable by researchers will also require accurate and reasonably comprehensive
metadata, including reliable authority records that will ensure they are grouped with
similar or related items in search results.
We do not know exactly how many of these diaries we have in our special collections,
because they are distributed among multiple donations and subcollections that have yet
to be fully registered at even the box level, let alone cataloged at the item level. Given
the relatively small staff allocated to Special Collections, it will likely be many years
before these diaries are all found and processed—and by that point, many other rare
and unique documents will have joined the queue. These diaries represent an incredibly
rich and potentially useful set of research materials, and they are only a tiny drop in
the enormous bucket of rare and unique documents our library owns. Most of these are
virtually unfindable and effectively unusable, because the focus of our library has always
been, like that of most libraries, on the gathering, organization, and management of
commodity documents. Furthermore, our library is, in all of these ways, typical of large
research libraries throughout the United States—which means that our special collections
in their entirety represent only one drop in the much larger bucket of special collections
that currently languish, undigitized, undescribed, unfindable, and inaccessible, in similar
libraries throughout our country and the world.
Our library’s main, public collection, on the other hand, includes several million printed
commodity books. None of these books is unique and very few are even rare; if lost or
damaged, they can virtually all be replaced, generally quite cheaply. A significant portion
of them now exists in online versions that are freely available to the public6
, both for online
reading and for downloading in full text. Metadata has already been assigned to these
books, and in the vast majority of cases had already been assigned to them even before
we purchased and processed them ourselves. A small and fast-shrinking number of these
books is checked out or even consulted by students and faculty in any given year, and yet
their acquisition and management absorbs roughly 25% of our library’s total fund of staff
time and they occupy a similar share of the library’s increasingly crowded floor space.
Does access to commodity documents matter in a research library? Of course it does.
I want to be very clear that I am not advocating that research libraries abandon the
brokerage and management of these documents. I am, however, suggesting that research
libraries devote a greater percentage of budget and staff time than we hitherto have to
the management and dissemination of those rare and unique documents that each of us
owns, that no one but the holder can make available to the world, that have the potential
greatly to enrich the world of scholarship, and that can be made available outside of the
commercial marketplace without damage to any participant in the scholarly communication
system. Importantly, I am also urging that each of us make this shift in consultation with
our local stakeholders and in harmony with the missions of our host institutions.
One final point: as we begin to move in this direction, it is imperative that we avoid
confusing uniqueness with value. The goal of the shift I am describing is not to make the
The situation in one large
research library
Directions for the
(near) future
6
“HathiTrust Dates – Public Domain,”
HathiTrust, accessed June 14, 2013,
http://www.hathitrust.org/visualizations_
dates_pd.
Pioneer Diary example
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9. library or its offerings “more unique.” Uniqueness may be an important characteristic of
a valuable collection, but it has little bearing on value in and of itself. (Given a pen and
paper, any one of us could create a perfectly unique but utterly worthless document at a
moment’s notice.) The goal is to enrich the scholarly environment with useful books and
other documents that would otherwise remain hidden from scholars and students, and to
shift our focus from resources and activities that make relatively little contribution to that
environment to those that will have the greatest enriching effect upon it.
Ithaka S+R is a research and consulting service that helps academic, cultural, and publishing communities in making
the transition to the digital environment. We pursue projects in programmatic areas that are critical to the advancement
of the academic community.
Ithaka S+R is part of ITHAKA, a not-for-profit organization that also includes JSTOR and Portico.
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