Leading the 21st-Century Academic Library

Successful Strategies for Envisioning and Realizing Preferred Futures

Bradford Lee Eden

Libraries of all types have undergone significant developments in the last few decades. The rate of change in the academic library, a presence for decades now, has been increasing in the first decade of this century. It is no exaggeration to claim that it is undergoing a top to bottom redefinition. Cataloging and reference remain central to its new role, and the circulation of books is still high though declining. Among the changes is the architecture of the library: when new libraries replace old or where renovation is occurring; the role of technology at every stage and in every library application; the management of serials – selection, shelving and budgeting; and in a gradual but irrevocable move to digital forms, altered allocation of resources including larger portions of the budget diverted to preservation, not only of aging books, a theme in the latter part of the last century, but of digital files – cultural, historical, personal.

In brief, the academic library is dramatically different today than it was only ten years ago. And with it, the profession of the academic librarian is also undergoing significant changes. Managing digital resources in all its forms, from telecommunications to storage and access devices, is central to its new roles. Creating, curating and preserving digital information is also key to the new librarianship. And what about services to its clients? Here also we see dramatic change, particularly but not exclusively with guiding library users in the effective use of networked knowledge. Information literacy is a key term and skill in using the new tools of digital literacy: reading and writing, searching and extracting; and the new technologies that drive social networking – the Iphone, Ipad, and Ipod and its many imitators.

We can’t expect the redefined academic library to assume its final shape any time soon, if ever, but the transformation is well underway. This series: Creating the 21^st-Century Academic Library, will explore this topic from a number of different perspectives. Volume 1, Visionary Leadership and Futures, will begin the discussion by examining some of the new roles and directions academic libraries are taking.

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Pages: 180 • Trim: 6⅜ x 9¼

978-1-4422-4576-1 • Hardback • March 2015 • $129.00 • (£99.00)

978-1-4422-4817-5 • Paperback • March 2015 • $65.00 • (£50.00)

978-1-4422-4577-8 • eBook • March 2015 • $61.50 • (£47.00)

Series: Creating the 21st-Century Academic Library

Subjects: Language Arts & Disciplines / Library & Information Science / Administration & Management

Leading the 21st-Century Academic Library

Successful Strategies for Envisioning and Realizing Preferred Futures

Hardback

Paperback

eBook

Summary

Libraries of all types have undergone significant developments in the last few decades. The rate of change in the academic library, a presence for decades now, has been increasing in the first decade of this century. It is no exaggeration to claim that it is undergoing a top to bottom redefinition. Cataloging and reference remain central to its new role, and the circulation of books is still high though declining. Among the changes is the architecture of the library: when new libraries replace old or where renovation is occurring; the role of technology at every stage and in every library application; the management of serials – selection, shelving and budgeting; and in a gradual but irrevocable move to digital forms, altered allocation of resources including larger portions of the budget diverted to preservation, not only of aging books, a theme in the latter part of the last century, but of digital files – cultural, historical, personal.

In brief, the academic library is dramatically different today than it was only ten years ago. And with it, the profession of the academic librarian is also undergoing significant changes. Managing digital resources in all its forms, from telecommunications to storage and access devices, is central to its new roles. Creating, curating and preserving digital information is also key to the new librarianship. And what about services to its clients? Here also we see dramatic change, particularly but not exclusively with guiding library users in the effective use of networked knowledge. Information literacy is a key term and skill in using the new tools of digital literacy: reading and writing, searching and extracting; and the new technologies that drive social networking – the Iphone, Ipad, and Ipod and its many imitators.

We can’t expect the redefined academic library to assume its final shape any time soon, if ever, but the transformation is well underway. This series: Creating the 21^st-Century Academic Library, will explore this topic from a number of different perspectives. Volume 1, Visionary Leadership and Futures, will begin the discussion by examining some of the new roles and directions academic libraries are taking.

Details

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Pages: 180 • Trim: 6⅜ x 9¼

978-1-4422-4576-1 • Hardback • March 2015 • $129.00 • (£99.00)

978-1-4422-4817-5 • Paperback • March 2015 • $65.00 • (£50.00)

978-1-4422-4577-8 • eBook • March 2015 • $61.50 • (£47.00)

Series: Creating the 21st-Century Academic Library

Subjects: Language Arts & Disciplines / Library & Information Science / Administration & Management

Author

Bradford Lee Eden is Dean of Library Services at Valparaiso University. Previous positions include Associate University Librarian for Technical Services and Scholarly Communication at the University of California, Santa Barbara; Head, Web and Digitization Services, and Head, Bibliographic and Metadata Services for the University of Nevada, Las Vegas Libraries. He is editor of OCLC Systems & Services: Digital Library Perspectives International and The Bottom Line: Managing Library Finances, and is on the editorial boards of Library Hi Tech and The Journal of Film Music. He has recently been named associate editor/editor-designate of Library Leadership & Management, the journal of the Library Leadership & Management Association (LLAMA) within ALA.

Table of Contents

Preface
Kevin L. Smith
Introduction
Bradford Lee Eden
Chapter 1: Five essential skills for the 21^st-century librarian
Melvin D. Davis
Chapter 2: What will libraries be when they grow up?: how the innovations of technology can help us imagine the future
Samantha Schmehl Hines
Chapter 3: The biology of librarian leadership
Sarah Brown
Chapter 4: The library-technology interchange: new roles for academic librarians in the 21^st century
Anna Fidgeon and Laurie Borchard
Chapter 5: Beyond buildings: a design-based approach to future librarianship
Rachel Ivy Clarke
Chapter 6: The university library's evolution: book warehouse or platform for student research and learning
Carl Antonucci and Sharon Clapp
Chapter 7: Dealing with workplace complexities and engaging staff: towards an engagement toolbox
Martin D. House
Chapter 8: Serendipity and the Semantic Web: catalogs of the future
Autumn Faulkner
Chapter 9: The dawn of the e-science librarian
Terry Cottrell and Gail Gawlik
Chapter 10: Media librarianship in the digital age
Dorothea J. Coiffe
Chapter 11: Knowledge organization in biobanks: a management information perspective
Lidiane Carvalho and Rodrigo Bozzetti
Index
About the Contributors