Discusses themes from the 2009 IGeLU conference, the development of ExLibris' URM product and the uncertain future of libraries and librarians

The Taiga 4 Steering Committee is pleased to announce a new set of “provocative statements” about libraries
and the information environment. These ten statements represent the combined wisdom, eagerness,
impatience and engagement of more than 50 Associate University Librarians and Associate Directors who
attended the Taiga 4 Forum in Denver, on January 22, 2009.

No Brief Candle: Reconceiving Research Libraries for the 21st Century
August 2008

 

How should we be rethinking the research library in a swiftly changing information landscape?

In February 2008, CLIR convened 25 leading librarians, publishers, faculty members, and information technology specialists to consider this question. Participants discussed the challenges and opportunities that libraries are likely to face in the next five to ten years, and how changes in scholarly communication will affect the future library. Essays by eight of the participants-Paul Courant, Andrew Dillon, Rick Luce, Stephen Nichols, Daphnée Rentfrow, Abby Smith, Kate Wittenberg, and Lee Zia-were circulated to participants in advance and provided background for the conversation. This report contains these background essays as well as a summary of the meeting.

 

The paper probes the relationship between libraries and the faculty at institutions of all sizes, and how the digital shift is altering that relationship. The authors, Roger Schonfeld and Ross Housewright, pulled together the highlights from two surveys conducted in 2006: one of American faculty members and another of librarians in charge of collection developmen

HOW SHOULD WE be rethinking the research library in a swiftly changing information landscape?

In February, CLIR convened 25 leading librarians, publishers, faculty members, and information technology specialists to consider this question. Participants discussed the challenges and opportunities that libraries are likely to face in the next five to ten years, and how changes in scholarly communication will affect the future library. Essays by eight of the participants-Paul Courant, Andrew Dillon, Rick Luce, Stephen Nichols, Daphnee Rentfrow, Abby Smith, Kate Wittenberg, and Lee Zia-were circulated to participants in advance and provided background for the conversation.1 CLIR will issue a full report of the meeting, including the background essays, later this summer.

 

Bamboo is a multi-institutional, interdisciplinary, and inter-organizational effort that brings together researchers in arts and humanities, computer scientists, information scientists, librarians, and campus information technologists to tackle the question:

How can we advance arts and humanities research through the development of shared technology services?

As card catalogs once gave way to computers, it might be time for another paradigm shift at libraries

From Peter Brantley's blog

"I have seen the future of libraries: It is to spend the future discussing the future of libraries."

 

 

Jim Neal's article about how the library profession is changing as we hiring professionals from other traditions
(IT, HR, fundraising, etc.), and how we need to enculturate need these "feral professionals". 

 

"Stanley Wilder has another article in the Chronicle, this one exploring the changing demographic trends in hiring in ARL libraries. Channeling Jim Neal's notion of "feral professionals," Wilder analyzes the 2005 ARL demographic data and finds that 23% of professionals at research libraries are in nontraditional positions such as "systems, human resources, fund raising, publishing, instructional technology, and facilities management," and that these professionals are more likely to be under 35 years old."

"In Google's Broad Wake: Taking Responsibility for Shaping the Global Digital Library," by Richard K. Johnson, brings together a number of articulations of core library interests in digitization partnerships, identifies six key interests against which potential agreements should be evaluated, and urges libraries and their institutions to "make full use of whatever leverage they have to ensure the global digital library is open and dynamic."

Title: A Model for Academic Libraries 2005 to 2025
Authors: Lewis, David W.

Issue Date: 12-Jan-2007
Abstract: The paper presents a model for academic libraries for the next 20 years. The parts of the model are: 1.) Complete the migration from print to electronic collections; 2.) Retire legacy print collections; 3.) Redevelop the library space; 4.) Reposition library and information tools, resources, and expertise, and 5.) Migrate the focus of collections from purchasing materials to curating content. The interactions of the parts of the model and organizational issues for implementation are explored.
Description: Paper presented at "Visions of Change," California State University at Sacramento, January 26, 2007.

Great conference on changes in libraries. Especially note the "Provocative Statements"